Father Browne’s Laois

In 1929 the Jesuits acquired Emo Court, a magnificent Gandon house in Co Laois. Renowned photographer, Fr Browne, was one of the first Jesuits to take up residence there. During his twenty-eight years in the county he took not less than 7,863 photographs of Laois and, as this book shows, he traversed the country from Ballinakill to Mountmellick, from Rathdowney to Stradballey. His photographs of Emo Court are given a whole chapter to themselves. In 2012 the Office of Public Works opened a permanent Browne exhibition at Emo Court. This volume comprises over 100 photos of people and places in Laois, all taken in the first half of the twentieth century.