A book of photographs containing iconic images of The Troubles has been compiled by the family of a former press photographer.

1. Updated / Sunday, 2 Jan 2022 20:32
A book of photographs containing iconic images of The Troubles has been compiled by the family
of a former press photographer.
The family of Paul Kavanagh from Dundalk in Co Louth have curated over 170 images, which give
an insight into life around the border over the past few decades.
"We reckon there's about 500,000 negatives, but it really took the first lockdown for me and my
husband to narrow it down to around 170 photos, that we thought represented Paul Kavanagh the
man," explains his daughter Paula.
Photo collection offers window into Ireland past
The Troubles feature prominently in the book
Itseemsthatyourcomputerisrunningadblockingsoftware.Inorder
t t h t t RTÉi l di bl dbl k f


2. The family has collated this book of photographs which document life around the border during a
difficult time.
The bulk of the work in the book covers the period from the 1940 to the 1970s.
The photographs are of simpler times, in an Ireland very different to now. In his hometown of
Dundalk Kavanagh photographed poverty, pain and happy times too, capturing Louth’s All-Ireland
win in 1957.
Of course the Troubles featured prominently, and many of the images in the book are of darker
days in our history.
"He didn't take too many chances but at the same time he believed he had to be a witness. He
carried his 35mm Leica camera with him and a 16mm path with him for RTÉ," explains his son
Conor Kavanagh.
towatchcontentonRTÉ.ie,pleasedisableyouradblockerfor
www.rte.ie.Formoreinformation,pleaseseeourFAQs.

3. Paul Kavanagh was on the scene the night of the car bombing outside Kay’s Tavern in Dundalk.
Two people lost their lives and 20 were injured.
Conor recalls: "My father was at home, it was around 6pm in the evening so he grabbed his
cameras and went to the scene of the explosion on Crowe Street. He told me he hid behind the
door of the town hall which had been blown off its hinges so he assumed a safe position and
started to film."
"As soon as he had that done, he got the film on to the train and straight to Dublin where it was on
the RTÉ News," he said.