3. Town and country

Pat was primarily recording the places he lived in or loved, for his own interest, and also using photography as an art form. As a result, many of his photographs are quite different in character from others in the Museum collection. They provide striking images of town and country in the mid twentieth century. In addition to photographs of Kilkeel and Newry there are views of farms and other buildings in and around the Mournes.

3.2 Circus (probably duffy’s), on the Manse Road, Kilkeel, July 1946

Pat photographed Duffy’s Circus caravans on the Manse Road Kilkeel. The use of horses for transport and in farming was still commonplace in the 1940s. This is one of the most obvious changes you can see when comparing Pat’s with Cecil’s photographs. (H-057)

3.3 Greencastle, Cranfield, 1947

This royal castle was built by the Normans in the mid-thirteenth century, to defend the northern shore of Carlingford Lough. It had an eventful military history, altered and added to in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The site was excavated in 1951. (H-020)

3.4 Margaret square, Newry

Compare this with Cecil Newman’s photograph of the same view, taken about twenty years later. The type and number of cars in the picture are the most obvious differences. The Green Clock, seen on the right is said to have been powered by gas. Check the time shown on the clock in Cecil’s photograph – did time stand still for twenty years? (H-086)

3.5 Reflections, on the Newry Canal, 1938

Photographed across the canal in Newry is the Riverside Reformed Presbyterian Church, designed by William J Barre in a Lombardo-Venetian style. This was quite unusual for a dissenting church. (H-079)

3.6 High Church, Newry

Known as the High Church because of its elevated position, St Patrick’s Church was built in 1578 for Protestant worship. It was the first church in Ireland to be built for this purpose rather than being converted from an earlier church. Much of the slum housing seen here in the foreground was derelict and in the process of demolition when Cecil was photographing the same area twenty years later. (H-080)

3.7 The savoy Cinema, Newry, 1940

The poster outside is advertising A girl must live, starring Margaret Lockwood. Going to the cinema was an important part of many people’s social lives in the 1930s and 1940s, before television took over. Even quite small towns had purpose-built cinemas and their art-deco architectural style is usually still recognisable, even when the building’s function has changed, as has happened with this building. (H-084)

3.8 ‘Reflections’, February 1944

This is probably a lock-keeper’s house on the Newry canal but hasn’t yet been identified. (H-166)

3.9 and 3.10 Traditional houses

There were still many thatched houses in the Mournes until the second half of the twentieth century. However, even when Pat was photographing the area, traditional houses were being abandoned, as people expected better living conditions or moved to towns for work. Pat photographed the thatched cottage during a visit home in 1956. (H-181 and H-164)

4.1 Photograph from a series, Winter in the Mournes, February 1947

Jim McVeigh is standing by what looks like road-building machinery, probably in the Silent Valley. (H-008)