Vanishing Ireland:
~ Introduction
~ About The Project
A 'triumph' is how the Daily Mirror described 'Vanishing Ireland', the No. 1 selling Picture Book in Ireland for Christmas 2006. All 10,000 copies of the first print vanished in nine weeks. Published by Hodder Headline, the book is now in its fourth print run and has sold over 25,000 copies.
Vanishing Ireland features interviews with sixty senior citizens from across Ireland and over 150 portrait photographs by James. The result is an invaluable, humorous and often poignant chronicle of a rapidly disappearing world and it is available from Amazon and all good bookshops nationwide. Vanishing Ireland reached No. 5 on Ireland's Hardback Non-Fiction Bestseller Charts, following appearances on 'Today with Pat Kenny', 'Nationwide', 'Ireland AM', 'Seoige & O'Shea', 'The Sean Moncreiff Show' and 'Soiscéal Pháraic'. The book was also serialized in The Dubliner throughout 2007. It formed major feature stories in Country Life, Cara, The Irish Times Magazine, The Irish Examiner Weekend and Social & Personal. It was roundly praised on local radio across Ireland as well as in the Sunday Independent, The Irish Mirror, The Farmers Journal, The Metro, Ireland's Antiques & Properties, The Irish Arts Review, The Book of Interiors, Magill, Irish Tatler and Image Interiors.
'At once amusing and poignant, this deeply engaging and important book is a must for anyone who secretly mourns the Ireland of the past. Vanishing Ireland is a vital chronicle of a rapidly disappearing world'.
Customer Reviews of Vanishing Ireland
'It's great to know you have a book to escape into when the TV schedules start to pall, and one of the best picture books of the year is Vanishing Ireland, by James Fennell and Turtle Bunbury - a dignified tribute to the older generation of country folk who grew up, so it seems, in another world. These are people who worked the land with horses, drew water from the well, and for whom a dance at the blacksmith's was a great social occasion. James Fennell's photographs are warm-hearted and affectionate, but always careful to put their subject into context, while Bunbury's text brings out the wit and the stoicism of these old timers without ever being condescending' Alannah Hopkin, The Irish Examiner (Best of Irish Interest Books)
'Vanishing Ireland is warm, funny, touching, sometimes desperately sad. A genuine treasure, this social history of the Irish character in his (or her) twilight years is full of stunning photographs and fascinating profiles. I warmly recommend it to anyone who was ever marvelled at the wisdom and good humour of our elders'. Trevor White, The Dubliner
'An absolutely beautiful book' Pat Kenny, Today with Pat Kenny
'A valuable and beautiful record of an Ireland that is rapidly disappearing ... A wonderful book that's sure to be turning up under Christmas trees across the land this year' Jacqueline O'Mahony, The Metro
'A really beautiful, superb, sensitive, excellent, poignant and invaluable book which couldn't have been more well worth doing. It is wonderful both visually and verbally, but so sad how unlikely it is that we'll ever see the likes of these subjects again. No household in Ireland should be without one'. Nikki Gordon Bowe
'I bought this book last week - MAGIC ! Congratulations - I have read it cover to cover - it is such an excellent account on our true Irish people. I would highly recommend this book as it gives a great insight into the real characters of Ireland who will "Vanish" soon'. Denis O'Reilly Wild Wicklow Tours www.wildwicklow.ie
'Exquisite portraits and poignant interviews with each of the characters featured make this more than just a beautiful book of photographs. It shows how prosperity has changed Ireland forever and an entire generation have been sacrificed on the altar of greed that modern Ireland now idolizes - the Celtic Tiger has stolen their innocence'. N. M. Wilkinson'
Wonderfully evocative photographs, combined with excellent text. Don't miss out on the Introduction. It says it all'. W.Moore , Kildare
'You do not have to be Irish or of Irish extraction or in any particular age group to enjoy and appreciate this handsome, impeccably produced book with over 130 superbly illustrated photographs of people , landscapes and animals. Full of interesting and gripping detail with in-depth portraits of people providing a valuable chronicle of a way of life fading fast into history. There is something in this book for everybody. It is a book about people and their relationship with their environment , the land, the rivers, music, animals, history and culture. Virtually all aspects of life and survival come alive between the covers of this book, but it is their outlook and philosophy on life captured by Turtle Bunbury that shines through. In his fine introduction to the book, Turtle states "some of those people we met spoke profound truisms that no philosopher has yet considered". Indeed so it is, spoken from the heart and from experience, the truisms are as relevant today as they were in generations past. For those of you who do have Irish or indeed European ancestry this book will prove informative and invaluable. As a historian and genealogist I am often asked "how did my antecedents live" "what was life like for them" in the lives of the people featured here you have the answer. Not only does it capture the rapidly passing present but in many instances the people portrayed throughout this book are today providing a living link to a way of life which in many aspects has remained unchanged in this area of Europe for the past 400 years, indeed some of them are living for many generations in the same house, on the same land, living a lifestyle that has almost disappeared. It is all recorded here, how they thought , worked, played, struggled and survived, from Cromwell and before to De Valera and beyond, from auld Gods time to no Gods time, from life to death and back again, writers and philosophers , fiddlers and singers, coalminers and canal men, tradesmen and masters of none, sheepmen and cowmen, farmers and gardeners, makers and menders, drummers and soldiers, sailors and fishermen, gamblers and champions, publicans and nurses, dancers and chancers, from housemaids to old maids, sad times to happy times, famine to plenty, war to peace, yes it is all here and then some. The author Turtle Bunbury is fast ( pun intended ) emerging as one of the finest writers on the scene today, this is his fourth book in three years. He has several well earned titles to his credit, award-winning travel writer, historian, explorer, freelance correspondent, in this his most recent endeavor he manages with precision and insight to combine all four talents and adds a fifth dimension, that of master-storyteller, observing and capturing as he does here, many "a moment" moments that will cause the reader to laugh and at other times be moved to shed a tear. I challenge anyone to read the chapter on Mick Lawlor and not be moved by the loss of his jennet, Pegasus, and by the absence of Mick on the list of those still living or to learn to laugh along with Nellie O' Toole as she recalls " a wonderful life - you couldn't have better" or the 103 year old cigarette puffing bachelor farmer, Paddy Gleeson , not yet ruling out marriage "as maybe he will meet someone his own age soon". Turtle also states in the introduction "posterity does not generally acknowledge the common people - their life stories have always faded into the archives" - faded yes but unfortunately faded into oblivion in most cases, so many lives and stories have remained unrecorded, lost forever .This book is a timely reminder to do something about this before it is too late. He tells us that at the time of going to press, six of the people interviewed for this book had died. Readers and generations to come will be grateful to Betty Scott for inspiring Turtle and James to undertake this "Vanishing Ireland" book and to Wendy Walsh for her support and Hodder Headline Ireland for publishing it .
Turtle's empathy, humor and magpie capacity for picking up detail are equally matched by the considerable achievement of photographer James Fennell adding an extra sensitivity with his charming images. I have published three books on photographs but I am afraid that my descriptive powers fail me in attempting to do justice to the splendid images photographed by James for this book . In my youth we had the world renowned Canadian portrait photographer "Karsh of Ottawa" who once stated "within every man or woman a secret is hidden and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can" well now we have , I believe, his equal "Fennell of Kildare" . His work is of the highest order and makes the book worth buying just for the photographs alone. His pictures complement Turtle's observations with stunning clarity and feeling. With the exception of an incorrect date on page 128 ( placed there, it might seem as did the rug-makers of old insert a deliberate flaw in their work so as to pay homage to the perfection of the Gods.) this is a seamless and flawless production. A book of the year, any year, a timeless masterpiece by two skilful professionals. One word of advice, buy it, read it but do not lend this book to anyone for you will never get it back . It was Abraham Lincoln who when asked to review a book simply stated "People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like" to paraphrase Abe let me just add that people who like life will find this the sort of book they like .......I love life ...and you can quote me'. Michael Purcell (carlowmike@gmail.com)
Amongst the many stories told in Vanishing Ireland:
Bill Burgess, 104 years old, a farmer from Carlow who remembers life during the First World War
Paddy Gleeson, a 103-year-old farmer from East Clare who recalls an encounter with the Black and Tans
Nellie O'Toole, a Dublin housekeeper, remembers tea with the executed patriot Kevin Barry
Atty Dowling, a cattle herd from Carlow, reconsiders the Spanish Flu which killed his mother in 1919
Donal Duffy, a piper from Louth recounts the brutal reality of the Belfast Pogroms
The fiddling great Paddy Canny and drummer Patsy Flanagan relive the glory days of the Tulla Ceili Band
Michael Brennan Roe reveals the true horror of life down in the Castlecomer coalmines
John Cooney, the postman from Achill recalls the island of his youth
The O'Reilly brothers, Willy and Pat Rua, from Belmullet remember the big storm of 1927 that killed their brothers and twenty seven others
Mick Stanton, the fruit seller from Galway, who juggles riddles in the air and orders two more pints when your back is turned.
Media Coverage
TV
Nationwide (RTE 1) Ireland AM (TV3) Seoige & O'Shea (RTE 1) Soiscéal Padraig (TG4)
Radio
Today with Pat Kenny (RTE1) Liveline with Joe Duffy (RTE1) The Sean Moncreiff Show (Newstalk 106) The Arts Show with Dorothy Cole (Dublin South) The Shaun Doherty Show (Highland Radio) Voices of Inishowen (Inishowen FM) On the Record with Sue Nunn (KCLR 96FM) John Prendergast (Limerick Live 95FM)
Newspapers - National
The Irish Times Magazine - 3 page spread, The Irish Examiner - Weekend Magazine - 3 page spread, The Sunday Independent, The Irish Examiner - Books Supplement, The Scotsman, The Metro, The Farmers Journal
Magazines
Country Living, Cara, The Dubliner - serialized throughout 2007, Image Interiors, Ireland's Antiques & Properties, The Irish Arts Review, Irish Tatler, Magill, Social & Personal, The White Book
Newspapers - Regional
Carlow Nationalist, Carlow People, Clare Champion, Kilkenny People, Laois Voice, Wicklow People Etc.
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