Agriculture through a lens at Irish Photo Archive

From dairy queen dances to farmer demonstrations, these images are just a snapshot of the rich trove on file at The Irish Photo Archive.

Maria Moynihan

26 November 2014

Agriculture through a lens at Irish Photo Archive

Queen of the Plough contest at the National Ploughing Championship, Kilkenny 29/01/1959

Department of Agriculture. View of the Crowds surrounding the N.F.A Deputation and watching developments outside the Department of Agriculture, Dublin. 20.10.1966

Charlie Keegan, from Wicklow returns home from Austria with the Golden Plough trophy as World Champion Ploughman which he won against a field of 39 competitors. (4 October 1964)

Farmers' wives and daughters at British Embassy.4th March 1982.A photograph of the delegation of wives and daughters from the South Tipperary Farm Family Committee arrive at the British Embassy. They are lobbying support from E.E.C. member states for IFA demands for better prices for Irish farm products. They were met by the British Ambassador, Sir Leonard Figg..From left, Eleanor Dwyer, Ballytarsna, Cashel group leader..Marie Mc Cann Ballyowen, Cashel.Pearl Holt, Carbery, Kildare.Eileen Barry,

Department of Agriculture egg-laying Competition, presentation of Silver Cup to St. Martha's College, Sion House in Navan, County Meath. (14 Jan 1953.)

Queen of the Plough contest at the National Ploughing Championship, Kilkenny 29/01/1959

Dairy Queen of Ireland cowned. Geraldine Coogan (centre) of Moate, Co Westmeath, was crowned 'Dairy Queen of Ireland' at the Dairy Queen Banquet at the Shelbourne Hotel. The other finalists are Florance Cash (left front), Esther Jordan (back left), Margaret McMullen (middle back), Linda McNamee (front right) and Marie O'Malley (back right). 20.01.1966

Early morning scene at Dublin Cattle Market (21/01/1959

Ben Bulben, Co Sligo. (25 April 1957)

In 1952, two photojournalists from The Irish Press founded Lensman Photographic Agency, and soon built a reputation for capturing unique moments in Irish life – from the visits of John F Kennedy, Princess Grace and The Beatles, to normal Irish people going about their everyday lives.

With the collection now under the auspices of the Irish Photo Archive, 48,000 images have been digitised and made available online.

However, this is only 2% of the 3.5m negatives in the Lensmen collection and new gems are constantly being unearthed.

The Irish Photo Archive welcomes email enquiries from people searching for a particular place or event, and would also like to receive any in-depth information about photos on their archive, such as names or dates.

Any proceeds from sales of prints and digital copies are re-invested into the development of Irish Photo Archive, helping to ensure the preservation of these images for posterity.

For more information, visit www.irishphotoarchive.ie