Amazing 1926 Ardara photo features in new 'Old Ireland in Colour 3' book

A best selling Christmas stocking filler for the past two years, is back for another instalment - Old Ireland in Colour 3. 

John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley third instalment of their record-breaking Old Ireland in Colour series - with yet more photographic gems as they have breathed new life into them in glorious colour - has captured audiences at home and abroad, through the magic of colour.

A very special photo from Donegal in 1926 also features in the book, which has also included Donegal photos in their first two books.. 

In 1902, Con Kennedy moved to Ardara and began a company specialising in knitwear due to the ‘hundreds of women in the area who could knit. 

The export industry was particularly lucrative, as the caption to this image from the National Geographic demonstrates: 

(Above: Old Ireland In Colour 3 by John Breslin and Sarah Anne Buckley is published by Merrion Press)

‘The knitting of woollen garments has long been a household art in Donegal, and at Ardara, the home of this colleen, the Irish Industries Association fosters weaving and knitting in the cottages. Many of Susan McNelis’ sweaters and golf hose find a market in the United States.’

The photo is titled: ‘WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG’ by Photographer: Clifton Royal Adams; Source: the Breslin Archive.

Picture above reproduced with kind permission of the authors 

All of Irish life is here – from an eviction in Clare in 1888 to devastating floods in Strabane and a snapshot of working life in Dublin. 

Famous faces from politics and the arts appear alongside hard-working labourers and farmers, and mischievous children from all corners of the island light up this book’s glorious pages.

The 272 page hardback Old Ireland In Colour 3 by John Breslin and Sarah Anne Buckley is published by Merrion Press at €24.99. ISBN: 9781785374715