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Hidden Ireland
The mysterious young doctor who captured Ireland in black and white
John J Clarke loved taking photographs of the world around him – and luckily for us, 200 of his photos have been digitised.
WHO WAS JOHN J Clarke?
As a student, he took photographs of the world around him, never imagining that in years to come they would give future generations an idea of how much Ireland had changed.
The photos, which are thought to have been taken between 1897 and 1904, show that he was a man interested in people, and not immune to a bit of fun.
Thanks to some intrepid sleuthing by NLI fans, we know that in 1910 a young John Joseph Clarke was an undergraduate medical student aged 21 and boarding at 8 Albans Road (Merchant’s Quay) in Dublin.
He was born in Monaghan and could speak both Irish and English.
He was one of three boarders (all Catholic) staying at the Cooke home. The Cookes were headed by 40-year-old mother Margaret, who had a daughter aged nine and a son aged six.
Perhaps she took in boarders as her husband was deceased, or no longer living with the family?
By 1911, JJ Clarke was GP, and staying in a Co Monaghan hotel on the night of that year’s census.
The photos Clarke took, which can be found in the National Library, show that he was particularly interested in people, moreso than buildings.
[image alt="CLAR_040" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/07/clar_040-389x500.jpg" width="389" height="500" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
As a student, he spent much of his time around Westmoreland St, Grafton St, Merrion Square, Stephen’s Green and Earlsfort Terrace, where he took much of his photographs.
[image alt="CLAR_046" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/07/clar_046.jpg" width="600" height="463" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
He also took photos while traveling, capturing Bray, Kingstown, and some small villages.
[image alt="CLAR_036" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/07/clar_036.jpg" width="600" height="488" class="alignnone" /end]
Dr Clarke never married, and died at the age of 82. Thankfully his surviving prints and plates were donated to the National Photographic Archive in 2000 by his nephew, Brian Clarke.
[image alt="vtls000168830" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/07/vtls000168830.jpg" width="580" height="419" title="" class="alignnone" /end]
A ship moored at Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire)Source: John J Clarke
Portraits like the one below show that Clarke had a keen eye for detail and framing, and knew how to use depth of field to draw the viewer in.
To view all of his photographs, visit the NLI archives.
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