When Raymonde Standún set about photographing the local people of the South Connemara Gaeltacht, she quickly sensed that here were stories to be told that lay beyond the reach of a camera: unique places; unique people; a nucleus of Irish culture, its language, music and dance. Voices of Connemara keeps this heritage alive in pictures as well as in the written word. Collected here are 51 interviews, among them: Martin Flaherty on the Black and Tans; Julia Greaney on the Fair Day at Spiddal; Cáit Nic an Iomaire on making her own wedding dress; and Festy Conlon on his father’s first fife. Set against Standún’s stunning images are stories of poitín for two bob, the baker’s island-delivery boat and the trials of line-fishing, alongside darker tales, still vibrant in the collective memory, of landlord brutality, famine and emigration. Edited by Bill Long, who also introduces the volume, here are the extraordinary voices of the ordinary people of Connemara, voices of the living as well as the dead.

RAYMONDE STANDÚN is a native of Cork. A graduate of UCC, she emigrated to France on completing her B.A. and H. Dip., where she developed her interest in photography. Returning to Ireland, her work as a tour guide led her to Connemara, and she has lived there ever since. Married to Donal, they have two daughters, Clíona and Laragh.

BILL LONG (1932–2010) was born in Waterford and travelled extensively in Europe and the Americas before settling in Dublin. An acclaimed radio documentary-maker and journalist, he was also the author of a number of books, including the bestselling history of Irish lighthouses, Bright Light, White Water.