This 20th century photo archive of Limerick is a feast for history lovers
The Limerick History Gazette, dedicated to finding and publishing previously unavailable images of Limerick city and county, is creating a lot of excitement for Limerick people at home and abroad.
The page has already recruited in excess of 10,000 members and gathered over 5000 previously unpublished images which are all posted and freely available to view on its page.
Archive creator, Gerry Hannan, known from his broadcasting days in Limerick and author of four books, returned to Mary Immaculate College to study History and Media and graduated in 2014.
He is currently doing a Masters Degree Course in International Entrepreneurship Management at Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick and this project forms the basis of his Masters Dissertation.
He is being assisted by fellow Limerickman and local history lover Terence Jnr Keehan.
Hannan set about creating the archive in January 2016 and in its first few weeks the idea captured the imagination of thousands of Limerick people who became members and are now contributing images to the archive.
Gerry explained that he believes that the best photographs in the world which capture history are the random shots ordinary people take at home with members of their own families or at family events.
Gerry says that as a child he went to visit a deceased grand aunts home in Kildare and found some very old photographs tucked away and these images were of great historical importance, "from that moment on I wondered how many such images are actually In existence and how can they be gathered and archived for future posterity?"
The long term plan for the Limerick History Gazette is to gather 20,000 previously unpublished images of Limerick in the 20th Century.
Hannan hopes the project will be completed for Limerick 2020 and will then be gifted in its entirety to the people of Limerick for all future generations.
Hannan is appealing to the people of Limerick to engage with Limerick History Gazette and to become an active member and post photographs that will otherwise fade away into oblivion.
"Our ultimate aim is to provide future generations of Limerick people, wherever they may be in the world, with a significant archive of what life was like for the people of our, our parents, and grandparents generations in their native city."
Take a peak at some of the photographs below!
