Photo Museum Ireland, in partnership with the London Irish Centre, proudly launched The Photo Album of the Irish: England Edition — a special exhibition and publication celebrating the stories and photographs of the Irish community in England.
The event brought together families, contributors, and visitors from across the Irish diaspora for an evening filled with memory, laughter, and shared history. The exhibition displayed photographs collected from Irish families throughout London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham — each image tracing generations of migration, connection, and belonging.
We also unveiled the accompanying publication, a substantial volume gathering the family albums and oral histories recorded during the project. Together, the exhibition and book form an enduring record of the Irish experience in England — a testament to the strength, creativity, and continuity of the Irish community abroad.
The Photo Album of the Irish is an ongoing archival project by Photo Museum Ireland that celebrates the social history of the Irish through the lens of family photography. Each edition of the project adds new perspectives on Irish identity, migration, and memory, building a living, democratic archive of everyday lives.
The Photo Album of the Irish is a living, democratic archive — a testament to the power of photography to connect us across time and place. In gathering these family photographs from Irish communities in England, we’re preserving not just images, but the shared stories of migration, memory, and identity that define who we are. This exhibition and publication honour the family photographers whose pictures shaped the visual history of the Irish diaspora.
This latest chapter, supported by the Government of Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme, honours the Irish diaspora in England and the enduring bonds of family, place, and belonging.