FREE TALK: Diverse Histories of the Irish – Reflected in Family Photo Albums
1-2pm | Friday 29 May
Photo Museum Ireland
Admission is free, with booking required.

Photo Album of the Irish is a growing digital archive that brings together personal photographs and the stories that surround them. Through family albums, snapshots, studio portraits and informal images passed down through generations, the project opens up a wider picture of Irish life. At its heart, the project asks what family photographs can reveal about who we are, how we remember, and how culture is recorded.

The talk will introduce audiences to the project and to the value of family photography as both a personal keepsake and a social document. It will also reflect on the diverse histories that photographs can hold, and the ways these images help us think differently about Irish identity, belonging and lived experience. Alongside this, the session will offer practical advice on how to care for family photographs, negatives and slides, including guidance on storage, labelling and display.

Bealtaine Festival continues to bring artists, organisations and audiences together across the country each May, creating space for creativity, connection and cultural participation in later life.

We are pleased to share this digital archive project in this year’s Bealtaine Festival, Ireland’s national festival celebrating the arts and creativity as we age. Join us to explore this project rooted in memory, lived experience and intergenerational exchange, and learn how photographs carry intangible stories across time.

FREE TALK: Diverse Histories of the Irish – Reflected in Family Photo Albums
1-2pm | Friday 29 May
Photo Museum Ireland
Admission is free, with booking required.