A celebration of unionist culture by Allan LEONARD 31 March 2023 A showcase day of unionist culture was held at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast, with activities of a cultural identity video; a “living library” event; a talk by historian and broadcaster, Dr David Hume; an exhibition of archival footage by NI Screen of cultural events; … Continue reading A celebration of unionist culture
Book review — Old Ireland in Colour (John Breslin & Sarah-Anne Buckley) by Allan LEONARD 14 March 2021 Old Ireland in Colour is an ongoing project of colourising black and white images by photographers in Ireland in the late 19th to early 20th century. The catalyst was John Breslin working on colourising some photos of … Continue reading Book review — Old Ireland in Colour (John Breslin & Sarah-Anne Buckley)
Book review: A Pocket History of Northern Ireland (Richard Killeen) by Allan LEONARD 29 December 2020 Occasionally I am approached for an image to be used in a book publication. Recently, this was for one that I made of a mural celebrating the television series, Derry Girls. Disclosure: I granted permission, with payment, for the … Continue reading Book review — A Pocket History of Northern Ireland (Richard Killeen)
For Northern Ireland: Parity of esteem and reconciliation by Allan LEONARD 1 August 2019 As part of the 31st annual Féile festival, Jim Gibney (a member of the Féile Debates and Discussions Committee) welcomed the audience of a couple dozen attendees of a panel discussion on what parity of esteem, reconciliation, and mutual respect means … Continue reading For Northern Ireland: Parity of esteem and reconciliation
Book review — The Colour of Time (Dan Jones & Marina Amaral) by Allan LEONARD 26 May 2019 Released in hardcover in August 2018 and now available in paperback, The Colour of Time, by historian Dan Jones and artist Marina Amaral, is a collection of 200 colourised photographs taken between 1850 and 1960. With accompanying … Continue reading Book review — The Colour of Time (Dan Jones & Marina Amaral)
Ephemera to direct our future: Introduction to the Peter Moloney Collection by Allan LEONARD 10 April 2018 Peter Moloney, who collected Troubles-related ephemera for over 50 years, presented a personal lecture on how it began, why he decided to donate it all to the Tower Museum, and how he’ll keep on collecting. The negotiation to … Continue reading Ephemera to direct our future: Introduction to the Peter Moloney Collection
Reflected Lives: broadening the canvas of the past An oral history project at a Belfast interface by Allan LEONARD 10 April 2018 Joe O’Donnell (Strategic Director, Belfast Interface Project) told the audience that the auspicious date for today’s exhibition launch was no accident. With reference to the much-publicised conference at Queen’s University Belfast, featuring key … Continue reading Reflected Lives: broadening the canvas of the past
Using our past better: Launch of Divided Society by Allan LEONARD 22 January 2018 Twenty and two years in the making, the Linen Hall Library launched its website, Divided Society, which features documentary material in its Northern Ireland Political Collection, of the peace process during the 1990s, with over 500 journal titles available. It is … Continue reading Using our past better: Launch of Divided Society
Photo Detectives: An exhibition of community-researched Irish photo history by Allan LEONARD 6 January 2018 Photo Detectives is an exhibition by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) at its National Photographic Archive site in Dublin, of a set of archive images that online Flickr users have assisted with research and providing illuminating further information. The … Continue reading Photo Detectives: An exhibition of community-researched Irish photo history
Mr Turner’s apples by Allan LEONARD 27 September 2017 The Allison Collection held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) consists of about 1,550 photographs and 34 volumes from Allison Photographic Studios between circa 1900 and 1950. The studios were established by Herbert Thackwray Allison, who came to Ireland in 1881 with his … Continue reading Mr Turner’s apples
Exhibition launch: “We Lived It: The Social Impact of the Troubles” @TheLinenHall by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 2 August 2017 The Linen Hall Library has presented the first of two exhibitions of its Divided Society digitisation and outreach project. “We Lived It: The Social Impact of the Troubles” contains artwork, imagery, ephemera, and … Continue reading Exhibition launch: “We Lived It: The Social Impact of the Troubles” @TheLinenHall
Everywhere is different but nevertheless is not unrecognisable by Allan LEONARD 25 April 2017 Of the treasure trove of prints and negatives held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), a relatively small selection of about 2,500 images are available to view on Flickr. This consists of three collections: the Allison Photographic Collection, … Continue reading Everywhere is different but nevertheless is not unrecognisable
