Showing 2102 results

Black and white photograph of Francis Bacon taken by John Minihan in London in 1976 with the written caption ‘Francis Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909, he died in Madrid, Spain in 1992. Bacon was one of the most important painters of the twentieth century. I first met the artist in the early 70s and would photograph him in London and Paris. Bacon worked with photographs, many of his friends were photographers.’
Francis Bacon was born up the road on Baggot Street. But like many other Dubliners – from Edmund Burke to Brendan Bracken – he saw himself as an Englishman. This photograph of Bacon was taken by John Minihan in 1976. Bacon’s paintings were famously bleak and emotionally raw. Margaret Thatcher once called him “that man who paints those dreadful pictures.”

A letter dated 28 October 1976 from Samuel Beckett to John Hughes, who lived in Beckett's old home, in which he lists his old schools and describes where he slept in the house. It includes the line 'If you ever meet my ghost in house or grounds, give it my regards.' Also a black and white photograph of the house in question as well as the envelope.

Playwright Samuel Beckett wrote this letter to schoolboy John Hughes, who was living in the house where Beckett grew up – Cooldrinagh in Foxrock. Say hello to my ghost, urges Beckett.

Front page of the Irish Times, Dublin, Saturday, August 30, 1975 when Éamon De Valera died. It has a photo of De Valera and multiple articles about him and his life.

On Saturday 30 August 1975, the Irish Times announced the death of Éamon de Valera. A towering influence, he served multiple terms as a socially conservative Taoiseach and President. De Valera retired from politics in 1973 at the age of 90, the oldest head of state in the world at the time. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.