RUNNING THROUGHOUT APRIL AT THE KENNY GALLERY
Step into history and visit this exhibition of over 40 aerial photographs of Galway from the 19th and early 20th centuries
Tom Kenny's Old Galway – A Bird’s Eye View brings together aerial photographs and elevated viewpoints that reveal the city’s streets, rivers, docks, and neighbourhoods from perspectives rarely seen in everyday life. While most of the images are aerial in nature, a small number capture the city from high vantage points, offering a similar bird’s-eye perspective on Galway’s changing landscape.
Among the earliest pieces in the exhibition is a remarkable 1651 map of Galway, drawn during the Cromwellian period. Although created centuries before aerial photography was possible, the map presents an almost bird’s-eye understanding of the walled city and its surroundings, anticipating the perspectives that later photographers would capture from the air.
The exhibition also highlights the work of pioneering aerial photographers whose images documented Galway’s development across the twentieth century, including figures such as Norman Ashe, whose remarkable aerial surveys remain an invaluable visual record of the region.
Grateful acknowledgement is also due to the photographer Gerry O’Gorman, whose generosity in gifting his entire collection of aerial photographs to Tom’s photographic archive has greatly enriched the visual record of Galway from above.
Today, with drones capable of capturing effortless aerial views, such perspectives are readily available. The historic photographs gathered here remind us how rare and remarkable these vantage points once were, and how valuable they remain as records of Galway’s changing landscape.
After fifty years of Tom Kenny’s Old Galway column in the Galway Advertiser, the exhibition revisits photographs that have been central to his exploration of Galway’s rich social history.
In addition to the exhibition, two volumes drawn from Tom’s work on the column have been published, documenting the fascinating stories behind many of the photographs.
Open Monday to Saturday, 9:00–17:00, admission is free and all are welcome!
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