Officially launched by art historian, researcher and author, Kathryn Milligan, Before I Go. Vanishing Dublin gathers fifty uniquely Dublin cityscapes by Gerard Byrne — Georgian terraces, Victorian facades, charming pubs, and beloved pockets of verdure that continue to define his practice. Canal locks, iconic rooftops and reminders of Baile Átha Cliath’s architectural heritage.
In turbulent and uncertain times, beauty can feel fragile. Cities change quickly, and what once seemed permanent can disappear almost overnight. For Byrne, this is precisely why he works en plein air, placing himself directly before his subjects, capturing architecture and atmosphere in equal measure,
Dublin exists in the particular: in this rain, this red brick, this pint. Specificity makes a place. You can’t build heritage. You can only inherit it, tend to it, or betray it.
In this, Byrne continues the work of Harry Kernoff and Flora Mitchell, exemplified in her book Vanishing Dublin (1966). Sixty years on, he faces the same conviction that what is not recorded is lost forever. Byrne captures these urbanscapes to insist they matter. To say: I saw you. You were beautiful. And before I go, before you go, I'll make sure someone remembers.
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