Chronicle launches 'Life through the Lens' collection of archive photographs

The Meath Chronicle launched a collection of photographs from its archive in a new publication this week. Richard Moore, former deputy editor of the Chronicle, officially launched the book in the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, on Thursday. The launch in the Solstice coincided with the ending of a heritage exhibition by Navan Historical Sociery of old photographs of Navan town, including one of the Chronicle printworks.
The new book, compiled by news editor John Donohoe, features over 300 photos dating from the 1970s to the 1990s, covering community and events, entertainment stars, business people and farm figures, sports personalities, politicians, and school activities, and focuses on a cross section of people and faces from the time.
Richard Moore, who worked in the Chronicle in the 1980s, went on to the Irish Press before becoming a press advisor to government ministers and setting up a public relations company, whose clients include current presidential election candidate, Gavin Duffy, from Julianstown. Richard, well known for his 'Rural Ramble' column in the paper, recalled events during his time in Market Square, such as the Bob Dylan concert riots at Slane Castle, how he was questioned over the disappearance of Shergar, and how Charlie Haughey stuck to him in an effort to avoid the national media at Newgrange during one of his many political crises. The book is available in selected retail outlets around the county - see www.meathchronicle.ie

Speech by John Donohoe, Editor, Meath Life Through The Lens

18th October 2018, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan

Good Morning Everybody, welcome to the Solstice Arts Centre on this crisp and chilly first morning of winter, for the launch of ‘Meath Life Through the Lens’.
The reason for choosing this venue is to acknowledge the great exhibition of photographs of old Navan staged here by Navan Historical Society, which is due to end next week,  which we felt would be a perfect backdrop for the launch of our photographic project. I believe it has been one of the most popular exhibitions put on here, and congratulations to the society for that. it includes a photograph of the old Chronicle printing works.
This is the first time since our centenary publication just over 20 years ago that we have taken on a project like this. The idea was prompted by a number of things. One of the papers in our group, the Connaught Telegraph, features a weekly photograph from the Liam Lyons archive, a collection by a Westport photographer extending from the 1950s to 1990s, held by Mayo County Library. It always gets a great reaction.
Secondly, our neighbours in the Longford Leader produced a collection of their photographs last year, which prompted the titles in our Celtic Media Group to look at our own archives with a view to sharing them with the public.
These were photographs produced as classic black and white prints from the days before smartphones and digital media meant that photos could be produced in an instant. 
Various building and moving works ove rthe years mean that our archive is incomplete, so we decided to settle on a period from the 1970s to 1990s, which may not sound like that long ago to many of us, but when looking back, stretches back to almost 50 years ago. 
And for this volume, we concentrated on people and faces, as well as touching on a few memorable events. 
Where do you start, and where do you stop? As some of my colleagues will attest to, it’s very easy to get buried in photographs when covering such a period. We looked at different areas – community and events, entertainment stars, business people and farm figures, sports stars, politicians, and school activities,  and picked out a cross section of people and events from the time. It is certainly not meant to be a definitive collection, simply a sample of the treasure trove of photos that are there.
There is much more material for another couple of volumes, particularly in the sports arena.
Not all photographs were stamped, but photographers who supplied the newspaper in that era included Jim Clarke, Anne Crinion, Ann Magee, Brendan Flynn, Gerry Delany, John McKenna, John Cawkill, James Carney, Peter Gallagher, Sean Dempsey, John Quirke, Seamus Smyth, Gerry Shanahan, David Mullen, Terry Collins, Andy Spearman, Carol Lee, Joe Fanning and of course, Seamus Farrelly, here in action with his camera today. We thank the photographers for their support, as well as our advertisers.
Some of my personal favourites are the nun run races in Trim in the late 1980s, and Seamus’s photos of the David Bowie concert in Slane in 1987, as well as Carol Lee’s photograph of John Bruton looking down the hill at Skryne, pondering the 1992 general election.
And there’s a great one of Mrs Browne – Brendan O’Carroll – when he was a waiter in the Village Inn in Clonmellon many moons ago.
Many of those featured are no longer with us, and it is a nice way to remember them, some only recently departed like Joe Reilly, Peter McKeever, and this week, Fr Andy Farrell, and Paddy Duffy, who died suddenly yesterday at Heathrow Airport while travelling home with Bertie Ahern.

As Sean Boylan was once reported to have said, get your retaliation in first, so I want to apologise in advance for a number of caption errors that have occurred, including the name of the wife of a former Meath footballer. The difficulty is the lady goes set dancing in Walterstown with my father, so he may have some sore shins next week!
To say a few words to launch this book, we welcome Richard Moore, a former deputy editor and Meath Chronicle writer, who worked in Market Square for the best part of a decade in the 1980s, and who went on to become a press advisor to various government ministers, as well as a public relations guru. Indeed, a current client is an aspiring president, Gavin Duffy.
Richard may have some tales from those black and white days, when the Rolling Stones first arrived at Slane Castle, and he took off on his ‘Rural Rambles’ around the county!