Grianghraif de Mhaigh Eo
Mayo County Library holds a large photographic archive relating to all aspects of life in the county from the nineteenth century to the present day.
The major collections are The Wynne Collection, The Liam Lyons collection, and our postcard collection, as well as many of the Mayo photographs from the Lawrence Collection.
We also hold a large collection of historical newspaper illustrations dating mainly from the mid to late 19th century.
Liams Lyons Collection
The Lyons Collection comprises thousands of digitised photographs from the renowned Westport photographer Liam Lyons covering the period from the mid 1950s up to the 1990s.
The digitisation of the photographs was a collaborative project between the photographer himself and Mayo County Council.
The collection represents a pictorial history of Mayo over those decades and covers almost all aspects of life in the county: political, sporting, social activities, industrial and commercial development, education, religion etc.
Sean T. O'Ceallaigh visiting Castlebar, 1948
Mayo Photograph Collections
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Lawrence Collection
The Lawrence Collection consists of 40,000 glass plate negatives from 1870-1914. The images were produced commercially and capture scenes of that period throughout Ireland. The bulk of the outdoor images were taken by Robert French, the Lawrences' chief photographer.
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The Wynne Collection
Approximately 2000 photographs taken by Thomas Wynne, Castlebar and his descendants dating from 1870.
Subjects include West of Ireland landscapes, architecture, streetscapes, studio portraits, historical events, etc. The collection was donated to Mayo County Library by the Wynne family.