AN IRISH POST article from 2012 has led to three generations of one family retracing their roots in County Clare, thanks to a collection of photographs taken 100 years ago.
The pictures, now known as the Gillespie Collection, were taken by a young trainee nurse during a visit to Clarecastle in the mid-1920s.
After the Clarecastle Ballyea Heritage Group appealed through the Irish Post in 2012 for old photos from the Irish diaspora, two sisters in Edinburgh realised their late mother had documented the village in amazing detail.
Eric Shaw, of the Clarecastle Ballyea Heritage Group, said the appeal was a great success.
"It struck us that back in the day, not many had cameras," he said.
Many people from the parish emigrated to Britain, Australia and the US, but returned to visit family.
Some brought cameras, creating an unexpected visual record of the area.
"We felt there was a vast archive of photographs of the parish lying in drawers in New York and Sydney and places.”
"We asked the Irish Post because we were specifically after the Irish community in Britain, and we felt the Irish Post would be the best place to reach them.”
"It worked beautifully."
The Irish Post appeal from 2012.Not long after the article appeared, two elderly sisters from Edinburgh contacted Mr Shaw to say their mother had visited relatives in Clarecastle in the 1920s, taking 80-90 pictures of village life during her stay.
The sisters later travelled to Clarecastle to visit the places their mother had taken the photos before donating the entire album to the heritage group.
"It was just fantastic."
The collection has since become a great snapshot of Clarecastle during the years just after Irish independence.
"We've been able to name a lot of the men and women in the photographs," Mr Shaw said.
This year, the photos helped bring history to life during commemorations marking the centenary of the 1926 Census.
Working with Clare Library's local studies department, the heritage group used the images to recreate what Clarecastle looked like a century ago.
Clare Abbey, County Clare (Clarecastle Heritage/Photo by Eric Shaw)The story has continued to grow with the Gillespie family.
Recently, the granddaughter of the woman behind the camera travelled from Oregon to Clarecastle, becoming the third generation of her family to make the journey inspired by the photos.
"It was quite emotional for her. To walk where her grandmother and her aunts had walked."
For Mr Shaw, the family's return shows the power of preserving local history and the role a simple newspaper appeal can play in bringing families back to their roots.
The Clarecastle Ballyea Heritage Group is now asking anyone with old photos of the area to share digital copies so they can help preserve Clarecastle's story for future generations.
"We aren't looking for the original," Mr Shaw said. "We are just looking for a good quality copy to show how Clarecastle life used to be."
If you want to contribute, you can find them: here
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today
