Kerry in Kodachrome, 1967

I have just returned from Kerry where I had an amazing time at the Listowel Writers’ Week. The atmosphere was really friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed the literary walking tour of the town which included some of the places mentioned in John B. Keane‘s plays and stories. The talks given by David Sedaris and the biographer Michael Holroyd were well worth the journey. I can’t wait to go back for next year’s festival. 

This trip to Kerry reminded me of some beautiful kodachrome slides featuring the county which were taken by an English tourist in 1967. I have shared some of them previously on this blog but now that I have witnessed the beauty of Banna Strand for myself (this is where the sea holly was photographed) I thought I’d post a few more. 

The image of the men carrying the currach boat at Scraggane Pier reminds me of Bill Doyle‘s colour photographs of Inis Oírr taken in 1965 and I find the ruined cottage particularly poignant and a reminder of an Ireland that has vanished. 

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Kodachrome beaches, Kerry, 1967

I have posted about this collection on a previous occasion and it contains some great images of a tourist’s visit to Ireland in 1967. Even though we complain about Irish summers I honestly think that the slightly menacing sky in the first slide is far more interesting than a clear blue one. I also think that the Kodachrome process really enhances the Irish landscape bringing out the various green and blue hues. The small figures on Banna Strand, County Kerry and the children playing on the dunnes in the second image taken at Rossbeigh Beach pull you into the images giving them a sense of scale and animation. You can also see some interesting earlier Kodachrome photographs at House of Mirth. 

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