Rare video footage featuring aspects of Ireland's maritime past has been discovered in Co Clare.
The films were recorded at the then busy port of Clarecastle in the 1950s and have now been digitised by the local heritage group.
The film footage was captured in both colour and black and white film by Anthony Considine, the son of the Clarecastle harbour master.
Using a Super 8 camera he captured the workings of the port at the time and aspects of life in the town.
The last cargo ship left Clarecastle in 1969 and today the site of the quay there is a leisure and walking park.
The footage shows cargo ships tied to the quay in the early 1950s unloading coal and fire bricks for local merchants and factories.
The footage also shows the army of men and horses used to transport the goods from Clarecastle to Ennis and other town in the vicinity.
The film footage was given to the Clarecastle and Ballyea Heritage and Wildlife Group and has now been digitised.
Eric Shaw of the group said that the material is like "gold" to them. He said that while the group has collected a lot of photographs of the town's past, the film footage was invaluable to them as a visual history of the town's role in local and regional trade.
He said that very little material like this exists today and he added that "these films show the dust and the smoke and the hard work of the men at the time. There is nothing like film to give you the atmosphere of the time".
The material has now been made available on the group's website which has been developed under the auspices of the National Museum.
