The Ireland of the 1890s may have been one of greater poverty than modern-day Ireland, but the views and beauty still came for free for anybody who walked the country’s shores. These incredible postcard photos , taken between 1890 and 1900, offer a magical look at Ireland from over 130 years ago. The pictures come to use courtesy of the US Library of Congress.
They enable us to get a view of some of the top tourist spots in late 19th-century Ireland, many of which are still popular destinations for tourists today. Although not all counties are covered, the images do come for all over the country and even give us an insight into the fashion and architecture of the day. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Taking in sites from the Giant’s Causeway to Ross Castle in Co Kerry, the images were created using a secret method developed in the 1880s by an employee of a Swiss printing company.
The complicated method was one of the first used to create color photography which was in the early stages of development. It was a delicate and time-consuming process. First, a tablet of lithographic limestone would be coated in a light-sensitive emulsion and exposed to sunlight under a photo negative.
The emulsion hardened over several hours in proportion to the tones in the negative and the image would be left on the stone. Glengarriff 32 Image: Library of Congress Glenoe village 32 Image: Library of Congress Giant’s Causeway 32 Image: Library of Congress Portrush 32 Image: Library of Congress Dunluce Castle 32 Image: Library of Congress Bridge in Glengarriff 32 Image: Library of Congress Royal Avenue, Belfast 32 Image: Library of Congress Lisdoonvarna 32 Image: Library of Congress Eccles Hotel, Glengarriff 32 Image: Library of Congress Cottage near Glengarriff 32 Image: Library of Congress Blackrock Castle 32 Image: Library of Congress Glengarriff Harbour 32 Image: Library of Congress Queenstown (now Cobh) 32 Image: Library of Congress Cobh Harbour 32 Image: Library of Congress Newcastle 32 Image: Library of Congress The main Bank of Ireland building in Dublin City 32 Image: Library of Congress Shelbourne Hotel 32 Image: Library of Congress St. Patrick’s Cathedral 32 Image: Library of Congress Phoenix Park 32 Image: Library of Congress Lower Lough Erne 32 Image: Library of Congress Devenish Island in Lough Erne 32 Image: Library of Congress Killary Bay in Connemara 32 Image: Library of Congress Valentia Island 32 Image: Library of Congress Ross Castle, Killarney 32 Image: Library of Congress Dungarvan bridge and harbor 32 Image: Library of Congress The Quays, Waterford 32 Image: Library of Congress Enniskerry 32 Image: Library of Congress Dargle Bridge 32 Image: Library of Congress Bray 32 Image: Library of Congress Vale of Avoca 32 Image: Library of Congress Poulaphouca Fall 32 Poulaphouca Fall * Originally published in 2017, updated in Aug 2024.
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