ROOM FOR GROWTH

was commissioned by an English newspaper to fly over to Belfast to photograph the Troubles, but after two such assignments I knew I had no real desire to be a war photographer. Then I travelled to the west of Ireland, which suited me better and I was less likely to get hit by a sniper’s bullet.

Q: Do you use long lenses to take your photographs?

A: I rarely take photographs from a distance, I prefer to work close up to people so that I can see the whites of their eyes, I like to see their expressions and know what they are feeling. I usually ask permission before I take the photograph. I like to feel there is a willingness of the person to take part in the making of the photograph.

Q: Why did you choose not to use colour photographs?

A: Monochrome photographs fitted better with the theme of the book and I did not want to use colour photographs just for the sake of it. I felt it would be a distraction from the overall mood.

Q: You have been a photographer for over 50 years, what are your thoughts on the changes in photography over those years?

A: These days we have digital photography, anyone can become an instant photographer using a mobile phone, but when I began back in the swinging sixties you could not get any video tutorials on how to learn photography, it was all very secretive, photographers kept their knowledge and know-how to themselves. At the beginning of my career I was using glass plate negatives and a large mahogany Victorian camera. For most of my life I have used film and darkroom photography.

Q: You worked abroad as a freelance editorial photographer, tell us about that?

A: Fairly early on in my career I realised there were two types of photographers – those who run about after celebrities, and the other kind had nice warm studios to work in. I decided to open my own studio in central London where people could come to me to be photographed. I began photographing rock and pop stars and actresses and actors.

Q: What parts of the country did you travel to take the photographs?

A: I travelled the length and breadth of Ireland over the years, and I found I preferred the small back roads where you find remnants of the old ways still in existence.

Q: The dates of when you took your Irish photographs show that you have an enduring interest in your homeland – why did you continue to photograph the old way of life?

A: I think I must have been looking for something lost, you lose something when emigration is forced upon you, and also it was the world of my parents’ time. I lost my mother when I was two years old and shortly afterwards my father emigrated. I think I wanted to capture something of that time and place where they once lived.

Dark Ireland – Images of a Lost World by Richard Fitzgerald is published by Currach Press.

THE EAR TO THE GROUND REPORTS ON A NEW CRAFT BEER BREWING ENTERPRISE IN CO LAOIS SELF-MADE MALT MAN

Absolutely thrilled that my #CraftDrinksBill has become law after being passed by #Dail tonight. I want to thank all the Craft Brewers in Ireland for their overwhelming support,” tweeted Labour TD Alan Kelly on July 12th.

The tweet, featuring a photo of a beaming Kelly alongside an image of his draft legislation, was undoubtedly greeted with thousands of raised glasses from the country’s craft brewing fraternity as they toasted the positive news for their industry. Although it still technically remains illegal to sell beer without taproom legislation, that is set to change when the law drafted by Kelly is introduced, which will allow breweries to offer beer for sale after visitors have completed a tour, between defined hours. The Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland – which represents microbreweries here – predicts that the first taprooms and sales from breweries will commence in early 2019.

One man who feels this change is long overdue is David Walsh-Kemmis, founder of Ballkilcavan Brewing Company, who is currently putting the finishing touches to his new microbrewery situated on his farm in prime malting barely country, just outside Stradbally, Co Laois.

“At the moment, we still cannot serve anyone,” David confirms. “Just say you visited a vineyard in France and they took you around on a tour, then turned around to you at the end and told you, ‘well, sorry, we cannot give you a sample, do you mind going to the local off-licence?’, you’d probably look at them a bit funny. We’re not trying to open a pub, we’ll only be serving our own beers, and it’s only to people who are doing a brewery tour, so it’s not like you can walk in off the street and spend the whole day drinking here. It’s just to give people a sample, show them all the nice procedures and kit, and the way we brew it and the traditional methods we use. Then we can actually show them what it tastes like. It will make a difference to the whole experience of people coming here.”

INGREDIENTS

Ballykilcavan Farm has been farmed by the Walsh family since 1639. David, an Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) brewer and IBD certified malster, and his wife Lisa, are the 13th generation of Walshes to live and work the land. As David explains, a combination of factors led to the creation of Ballykilcavan