Holy Pictures by Tony Murray

Holy Pictures captures the last vestiges of popular devotional practices once widespread in Ireland. Tony Murray’s vivid images from the late 1970s and early 1980s are a compelling record of an aspect of Irish life that has largely disappeared. By turns poignant and surreal, the photographs depict pilgrims, devotees and true believers against the backdrop of a changing Ireland. An introduction by historian Daithí Ó Corráin and interview by photo historian Orla Fitzpatrick place these important images in context.

TONY MURRAY is a Fine Art graduate from the National College of Art and Design and a lecturer in Media Production and Photography at the Technological University of Dublin. The first photographer to receive an Arts Council bursary in 1978, he was one of a small group of young photographers who documented social and religious events in Ireland in the 1980s and 90s. He has exhibited widely in Ireland, England and France and his work has been published in many books and magazines. In addition to his photographic work, he has directed and produced a number of television documentaries and co-authored a text book on Irish politics.