A Nation is Born: Ireland in Colour 1923-1938

by Michael B. Barry, John O'Byrne

A Nation Is Born celebrates a formative period in the history of the Irish the fifteen years during which we emerged from the rubble of wars and violence and set up as a fledgling country while establishing a diplomatic presence on the world stage.

The photos presented here have been painstakingly hand-colorized by photographer John O’Byrne, infusing energy into this often-overlooked the election of the country’s first governments; the mammoth Shannon hydroelectric scheme; a stunning Eucharistic Congress; scenes of cottage industry and rural Irish life; and ending with the uncertain rumblings of war in Europe.

280 pages, Hardcover

Published December 18, 2023

About the author

Author and historian Michael B. Barry studied in Trinity College, Dublin. He has worked on transportation projects both in Ireland and around the world. With a strong interest in history and heritage, Michael has written several books including 'Victorian Dublin Revealed' and 'The Green Divide, an Illustrated History of the Irish Civil War'. His recent book 'Courage Boys, We are Winning, an Illustrated History of the 1916 Rising' is a best seller. It has been described in the press as the best illustrated book on the 1916 Rising, and has gone into reprint.

Michael is an accomplished photographer and, in the years leading up to 2008, traveled to Spain, Jordan and Morocco to take a large selection of images for 'Homage to al-Andalus, the Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain'. His research also took him to Syria in 2008. His photographs of Syria’s heritage taken then form a valuable archive which enabled him to create the book 'Beyond the Chaos, the Remarkable Heritage of Syria' in 2014.

Reviews

[Peter Thew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of photographs of the period, each one painstakingly coloured. The effect is to bring the past to life. The two leading politicians of the period - W.T.Cosgrave and Eamon de Valera - inevitably dominate the political images along with their various cabinet colleagues. But it is the photographs of social life that are most interesting clearly showing how much has changed in ordinary life over the past 100 years. The most astonishing image is of the Short Mayo composite aircraft, specially designed to provide a trans-Atlantic service in the late 1930s. It comprised two aircraft attached to each other, one above the other. Once airborne, the lower plane returned to base, leaving the lighter, higher machine to cross the ocean alone - an early version of the idea now used for spacecraft.

A thoroughly interesting book