Shields, Robinson and O'Casey - but who is the Photographer?

One of the recent television highlights was the wonderful documentary, "Man on the Bridge" - the story of Arthur Fields, the street photographer in Dublin who was known simply as 'the man on the bridge'.

Over a career spanning five decades, Fields took hundreds of thousands of photographs on the streets on Dublin, but strikingly, no negatives survive. The 'Man on Bridge' project sets out to gather those images from people all over Ireland and abroad who may have a photograph of a parent or grandparent on their wall that was taken by Fields.

Within the Shields family archive here at the Hardiman Library, there is a photograph taken by an unknown (or at least unidentified) street photographer, of Arthur Shields, Lennox Robinson and Sean O'Casey. The three are walking down a city street; Shields is to the front and left with Robinson and O'Casey to the right respectively. Robinson is smoking a cigarette and O'Casey, seemingly in conversation with Robinson, is also holding a cigarette.

T13/B/338: Arthur Shields, Lennox Robinson, Sean O'Casey, Summer 1935

The reverse of the photo simply reads, "Summer 1935, Boss, Lennox Robinson, Sean O'Casey". 'Boss' was the nickname for Arthur Shields.

The question remains: Is this photograph taken in Dublin? if so, is Arthur Fields the photographer? 

If so, it is surely one of the most literary and theatrical of Fields' images, with three Irish theatre greats in the image.

If anyone may be able to shed some light and information on this image it would be wonderful to hear.

An online exhibition from the Arthur Shields/Shields family archive, Hardiman Library, NUI Galway, is available here.

You can watch the 'Man on the Bridge' documentary online here.

Killeany Village, Aranmore, c.1894

This image taken by Robert Welch is part of the wonderful Balfour album which is housed here at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway. Part of our digital collection, the images form an online exhibition that allows an insight into life and people of the West of Ireland in the late 19th Century.

This image is of a family pictured on a corner of Killeany Village, Aranmore. Also visible is a collection of neatly thatched stone built cottages, some of which are whitewashed. Two children sit on the wall while a man stands outside the gate. A woman is visible in front of the door way of the cottage.

If anyone knows the area today and how it looks compared to how it did in c.1894 or perhaps be able to identify the people pictured we would love to hear from you.




 

Click here to enlarge

To view the Balfour album in full click here