Valerie O’Sullivan’s new book features more than 300 photographs covering all parts of the Kingdom
The Ice Queen: Renowned ice swimmer, Nuala Moore, at Clogher Head, with Inis Tuaisceart in the background, on the Dingle Peninsula. Photograph: Valerie O’Sullivan
Kerry photographer Valerie O’Sullivan first picked up a camera when she was 17 and was thrilled a year later in 1993 when she saw her first photograph of rugby player Mick Galway, returning to his home in Currow after a Lions tour, published in the then Cork Examiner.
“That was a while back all right but with the way technology is going, you have to be all things to all technology so most of us have gone into video and drones,” O’Sullivan says.
Her book, On The Edge of Europe: Kerry, features more than 300 photographs ranging from Kerry Head in the north of the county to the Beara Peninsula in the south, and from the Dingle Peninsula in the west to Sliabh Luachra in the east, O’Sullivan captures the Kingdom in all its majesty, mystery and, sometimes, madness.
So, in a book oozing with colour, vibrancy and quirkiness, has O’Sullivan a favourite photo? “I suppose any time you go to Sceilig Mhichíl, it’s just always arresting and intriguing no matter what the weather is like on the Atlantic or whether you can see the rock, it’s always amazing. So Sceilig Mhichíl is a favourite, and it features a lot in the book, which I’m very pleased about.”
Award winning chef Patricia Teahan collecting seaweed while the tide is out in her beloved Cromane, Castlemaine Harbour. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan
Seán Ó Laoghaire is an artist, folklorist, storyteller and, by accident, a passionate and kind goat farmer broadcasting his stories every morning on his social media pages from his goat farm in Portmagee. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan
Pat O’Shea has called this precarious island his home between April and September for the past 35 years. He is the proud caretaker of Sceilg Mhichíl. The weather can be a huge hindrance to Pat and his crew, often forcing them to be marooned on land at Portmagee or exposed to the elements on the Skelligs. Pat’s speciality is dry-stone walling, he must ensure there are no loose rocks and is constantly preserving and restoring the island. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan
Anna Downing’s house in the Black Valley was the last house to be connected to electricity in the 1970s, and the first house to receive state of the art fibre-optic broadband, 50 years later. Renowned for its beauty and remoteness, the Black Valley, between Killarney and Kenmare, was the last area in Ireland to get electricity in 1977. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan
The famous herd in Killarney National Park consists of around 600 animals. Irish red deer are our largest and the only native species in the country. They are believed to have had a continuous presence since the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 BC. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan
Christy Banton O’Connor lives in Lisleibane, at the foothills of the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. His farm has always been known as 'the highest farm in Ireland'. Christy is a passionate
hill sheep farmer. He stands at the entrance to the original family home, now used as an outdoor shed. The O’Connors have lived in Lisleibane for over 300 years, six generations of hill sheep farmers. Photograph: Valerie O’Sullivan
The photographer Valerie O'Sullivan at home in Killarney
On The Edge of Europe: Kerry by Valerie O’Sullivan is published by Currach Books
