Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ghosts of the Faithful Departed

Between 1949 and 1989 it is estimated that 800,000 people left Ireland most of these in the 1950s. Photographer David Creedon has cataloged images of the things these poor people left behind.
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
A chair still sits by the fire,
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
a teapot abandoned, did they drink their last cup of Irish tea from this?
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
A bike that was not to do this particular journey,
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
how bright they tried to make their miserable lives,
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
the pram left behind meant babies were to be carried to a new life,
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
a sewing machine in remarkable condition considering how long it must have sat there,
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
a dress that maybe no longer fitted the owner and finally
Ghosts of the Faithful Departed David Creedon
why was this trunk, with the shipping label still attached, not taken?
Sad sad stories that I can sympathise with as my maternal grandmother was forced to leave Ireland during the Potato Famine and her stories were heartbreaking.

3 comments:

Gypsy Purple said...

This is absolutely fabulous...

*maren* said...

After 1989 a lot of people left the east part of Germany .. it was nearly the same. There have been a lot of old houses without an owner. I loved to go through these places. and i found some really treasures sometimes. A lot of old books... My "best found" was a wooden figure maybe from an old church. I worked at the Museum of History at this time and i could date the figure into the second half of the 18. century.
I really love the pictures you share here :)

studioJudith said...

So many crumbling mysteries .. .
beautiful images.

(I'm have a bit of a decayed and crumbling moment this week -
with M.Eastmans' photos)

Jjj