A new outdoor exhibition at Galway City Museum, Faces of Galway, 1988-89, captures the town’s inhabitants through the eyes of Canadian photographer Suzanne Ahearne.
Launched as part of this year’s Galway International Arts Festival, the exhibition provides an insight into the social life of a city on the verge of dramatic change.
Suzanne Ahearne’s black-and-white photographs capture moments from everyday life with warmth, humour, and a sharp eye for detail. Many will recognise well-known Galwegians such as Connacht champion boxer and barber Michael ‘Chick’ Gillen, Claddagh man Billy Flaherty, and the legendary Una Taaffe, alongside familiar scenes of Galway Markets, parades, fairs, and sunsets by the Spanish Arch.
Highlighting the significance of the photographs being shown in the town they were created, almost forty years later, Suzanne Ahearne said: “I’ve loved looking at these faces for the nearly four decades since I left Galway, and I’m thrilled they’ve found their way back. I hope they spark memories of friends, family and times past, and add to the city’s rich visual history.”
Suzanne arrived in Galway from Canada in the summer of 1988 with a student work permit, a backpack, and a Pentax K1000 camera. 23 years old, she fell in love with the city and its close-knit community, vibrant arts scene and bohemian charm. She spent the next year working in local cafes and taking pictures of people on the street in the course of her daily wanderings.
A collection of hundreds of Suzanne Ahearne’s images of Galway was recently donated to the University of Galway Library.
Remarking on the collection, University Librarian, Monica Crump said Suzanne Ahearne’s remarkable photographs beautifully capture the warmth, character and spirit of Galway and its people at a particularly vibrant moment in the city’s history.
“We are delighted to add this unique collection to the photographic and other heritage collections we hold in the University of Galway Library. We are proud to preserve these treasured glimpses of everyday life for current researchers and future generations, and to see them return home to the streets and community that inspired them,” she said.
