OFFICIAL OPENING TUESDAY, 31ST MARCH AND RUNNING THROUGHOUT APRIL AT THE KENNY GALLERY

Step into history and visit this exhibition of over 40 aerial photographs of Galway from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Tom Kenny’s Old Galway – A Bird’s Eye View brings together aerial photographs and elevated viewpoints that reveal the city’s streets, rivers, docks, and neighbourhoods from perspectives rarely seen in everyday life. While most of the images are aerial in nature, a small number capture the city from high vantage points, offering a similar bird’s-eye perspective on Galway’s changing landscape.

Among the earliest pieces in the exhibition is a remarkable 1651 map of Galway, drawn during the Cromwellian period. Although created centuries before aerial photography was possible, the map presents an almost bird’s-eye understanding of the walled city and its surroundings, anticipating the perspectives that later photographers would capture from the air.

The exhibition also highlights the work of pioneering aerial photographers whose images documented Galway’s development across the twentieth century, including figures such as Norman Ashe, whose remarkable aerial surveys remain an invaluable visual record of the region. Grateful acknowledgement is also due to the photographer Gerry O’Gorman, whose generosity in gifting his entire collection of aerial photographs to Tom’s photographic archive has greatly enriched the visual record of Galway from above.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Dick Byrne, historian, architect, and Tom Kenny’s collaborator on the Old Galway podcast, on Tuesday 31 March at The Kenny Gallery, Liosbán. Admission is free, and all are welcome!

Tom Kenny’s Old Galway – A Bird’s Eye View runs at The Kenny Gallery, Galway from March 31st until April 30th, Monday to Saturday, 9:00-17:00. Admission is free!