Washing Line Claddagh, Galway 1930's
Branson DeCou
Branson DeCou
You may not be aware but I collect images of washing lines (they can't touch you for it) and so I was delighted to discover this one by way of the fantastic irisharchealogy website. And also to discover the inspirational work of American photographer Branson DeCou who sadly died in 1941 aged 49. More of his Irish photos can be found here. They were taken in black and white and then coloured, some are a little over the top colour wise (!) but they are amazing images. He travelled the world taking photos and all can be accessed in a digital archive, aren't we lucky?
I am pleased folk are liking my current header pic of an Irish cottage by the sea, I found it on Facebook and must apologise for not knowing and naming the source but I just had to copy it as it epitomises my dream home!
I have been next door posting pics of late......... do call by. Cat lovers are especially welcome...
And have a great weekend.
Cait
Your cottage looks bliss to me!
ReplyDeleteI am going to send you one of my washing line pictures when/if I can find it!
Love the clothes line picture, what an interesting idea to collect.
ReplyDeleteCait, I have given myself a treat this morning, catching up with your recent posts here and "next door."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the poem. Its words brought many visual images to my mind. And then, I looked at your photographs here and there, and was swept far away from my little apartment. You allow me to see beautiful faraway places, and I very much appreciate this continuing generosity!
I do agree with Elizabeth...that cottage and its setting look just about perfect to me. I once knew a lovely Irish woman who's come to New York for some years. One of her brothers died, and willed his cottage to her. Before she returned to Ireland, I was fortunate to be shown lots of photos of this little white house. Seeing your header photo brought back memories of a delightful person, who I do hope is living in such a bit of scenery.
Again, many thanks, Cait. xo
Sadly, Cait, I can't share your love of such cottages but it is most excellent that there is someone to love them. Perhaps a long forgotten ancestor lived in one (part of my family came originally from County Cork). I find them most incredibly sad and forlorn and devoid of optimism, little prisons that chain their inhabitants to the land; their only redeeming feature the warm smell of turf smoke rising from their chimneys. There's a play which no doubt you will know 'In the Shadow of the Glen' by JM Synge which fundamentally is about a woman escaping from everything such a cottage stands for and hurrying herself homeless off into the wet night with a stranger. It's as if to say anything must be better.
ReplyDeleteLike Fennie, I have my roots in just such a cottage - idyllic now with money, good food and freedom to come and go, but so many families lived bound to the land and raising endless children in poverty in Catholic Ireland, and so many left as soon as they could for uncertain futures in other lands, my own family included.
ReplyDeleteStill a lovely dream and some gorgeous scenery. What is it about washing lines? They do have a certain charm and there are few scents I love more than freshly washed laundry dried in the fresh air.
My mother grew up in such a cottage right on the west coast of County Kerry and from learning of her sad life I think I know more than a lot of folk about the tragedies of life in the 'old' Ireland, Even so I still hold a love for the country and the traditional cottages. I live in a somewhat similar old cottage now in Wales. I would not have liked to have lived in such a cottage in Ireland in my mother's day but to live there nowadays (and to be beside the sea!) is an entirely different matter.
ReplyDeleteMy mother grew up in such a cottage right on the west coast of County Kerry and from learning of her sad life I think I know more than a lot of folk about the tragedies of life in the 'old' Ireland, Even so I still hold a love for the country and the traditional cottages. I live in a somewhat similar old cottage now in Wales. I would not have liked to have lived in such a cottage in Ireland in my mother's day but to live there nowadays (and to be beside the sea!) is an entirely different matter.
ReplyDelete