Joe Curtis – författare

Castlebar derived its name from Barry's Castle (Castle Barry), which was located in the open square of the present Army Barracks, up until the time of "The Races of Castlebar" in 1798. Later on, the Bingham family, also known as Lord Lucan, became the dominant landlord. This bustling town is the capital of County Mayo, and was provided with its own courthouse, prison, famine workhouse, asylum, hospital, four different churches, convent, monastery, schools, airport, hat factory, bacon factory, healthcare factory, hotels, shops, and numerous businesses, and the author captures life in the area with a fascinating collection of images.

Harold’s Cross got its name from a cross which marked the boundary of the lands owned by the Archbishop of Dublin, and the lands of the Harold clan in the 1500s. Today Harold’s Cross is a bustling thoroughfare, and although it is now a suburb on the south side of Dublin, it was once akin to the best little town in Ireland, being completely self-sufficient, with schools, churches, shops, pubs, hospital, orphanage, convents, monastery, cinema, a major cemetery, mills and factories, park, canal, large and small houses, dog track, barracks, and many farms and orchards. For its residents, it has a rich and varied history, which is beautifully captured in this book of archive photographs.