Photographer Joe’s snapshot of busy year
Tribune photographer Joe O’Shaughnessy continued to capture the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly of life in Galway during 2023.
He was there with his camera when Galway United won the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division Cup in October; he was there when gorse fires spread in South Conamara in July and he was there following the arson attack at Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill in December during protests against plans to house 70 asylum seekers in the building.
In October too, he captured the sombre atmosphere at a vigil held at UHG in solidarity with Palestine, where innocent people are still being killed as Israel avenges the dreadful attack by Hamas on its innocent citizens on the seventh of that month.
Joe’s photos – current and from the archive – also document more local deaths during this strange year. Those we lost in 2023 included Druid’s former Artistic director, actor Maelíosa Stafford in April, Sinéad O’Connor in July and hurling great, Jimmy Duggan in October.
It was a year when climate change left a terrible mark on Galway. Following the gorse fires of summer and their impact on wildlife, we had storms and floods in November, leading to the destruction of several businesses in Clarinbridge and the resulting impact on people’s lives.
The county’s various festivals from Portumna to Clifden and in Galway City lifted spirits, and there was joy and massive crowds as the Macnas Halloween Parade returned to the city streets following a four-year absence.
A year filled with events – good and bad – and Joe captured them, showing how global events are reflected locally and offering us the first draft of history from 2023.
Pictured: Pádraic Conneely and his son Torloch from Indreabhán during a demonstration of Súgán (hay rope) making during Pastime Chonamara Craft and Seashore Exhibition at Minna, Indreabhán in August.