LOOK BACK IN PICTURES

Browse this fascinating gallery, where every picture tells a story, from Kinsale in 1900 to Palmerstown, Dublin, in 1980.  The fashions and hairstyles of 1979, well-known figures from Irish history, anonymous passers-by on city streets, dramatic public events and small private moments. 

All these photographs are taken from the RTÉ Stills Library collections which include not only images from the early years of RTÉ Television up to the present, as well as shots taken by photographers working for the 'RTÉ Guide' from 1962-1988, but also a number of specially acquired collections. 

These include the Johnson Collection, evocative photographs of Dublin city taken by English artist and photographer Nevill Johnson between 1952 and 1953; the Cashman Collection, with memorable images such as that of Jim Larkin on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in 1923; the Murtagh Collection which covers a diversity of topics including the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, the 1932 Eucharistic Congress, Irish holy wells and ancient sites; and the Shard Collection, made up of the Shard family photographs, taken in the South County Dublin/County Wicklow area at the turn of the twentieth century.