(July to September 2022)

Visitors to Inis Oirr are in for a special treat this summer when Áras Éanna hosts an outdoor exhibition of colourised old photos from the three Aran Islands.

Based on the success of the books ‘Old Ireland in Colour’, NUI Galway academics and co-authors John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley are bringing stunning photos from the Aran Islands to Inis Oirr.

Breslin and Buckley are collaborating with Inis Oírr-based MacDara Ó Conaola to co-create a soundtrack around the exhibition photographs.

The launch of this exhibition on Saturday, July 9 (2pm), will be preceded by a talk by Breslin and Buckley, with accompanying music by local composer Ó Conaola for the occasion.This exhibition is co-funded by the Árainn Fund at NUI Galway and Áras Éanna Ionad Ealaine.

“This has come about from a partnership we launched last year with the University in Galway. We are hopefully going to see lots of projects between the university and Áras Éanna,” says McGee.

“It’s fantastic for us, as a small little arts centre on a small island, that we have this partnership with NUI Galway. This is our first partnership project with the University bar the Curacha exhibition which we staged in the University last year, which was a fantastic success.”

The outdoor ‘Curacha’ exhibition was a huge success on Inis Oirr last year and Áras Éanna hopes that visitors to our beautiful island during the summer months will pop up to the arts centre to view these stunning images from the Aran Islands in the old days.

* The Old Aran in Colour exhibition opens in the courtyard outside Áras Éanna on Saturday, July 9, and runs until Friday, September 30.