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Old Ireland in Colour
Old Ireland in Colour is the first in a series of non-fiction history books written by Irish academics John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley. Released in Ireland in 2020 and in the US in 2021, it consists chiefly of colourisations of black-and-white historical photographs by Breslin along with historical context and captions written by Buckley.
It was Ireland's bestselling book during Christmas 2020 and was winner of the Best Irish-Published Book Award 2020. A sequel, Old Ireland in Colour 2, was announced in July 2021 and published in September 2021. A third book in the series, Old Ireland in Colour 3, was published in October 2023.
In August 2019, Breslin set up the Old Ireland in Colour project, which uses a combination of artificial intelligence techniques (such as DeOldify) and human artistry (using Photoshop) to colourise and restore historical photographs of Ireland and Irish people from the 19th and 20th centuries. Following on from the success of this project on social media, in March 2020 he approached his University of Galway colleague, the historian Sarah-Anne Buckley, to collaborate on an Old Ireland in Colour book featuring a curated selection of these photographs, and this was published by Merrion Press in October 2020.
The Old Ireland in Colour book is divided into five sections: The Irish Revolution; Society and Culture; Women and Children; The Irish Abroad; and Scenic Ireland. The book contains over 170 photographs, with about 30 to 40 colourised photographs per section.
In interviews with CNN and others, Breslin has spoken about the extensive research carried out into clothes colours, military uniforms, buildings and roofs, eye and hair colours (for example, using various passenger or prison records where available) and which was used for manually changing the colourised photographs.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the book did not have any formal launch or book signings, instead relying on mainstream media coverage both before and after its release.
Breslin and Buckley spoke to the Sunday Independent as part of a multi-page feature in their Life magazine on 18 October 2020. Buckley also talked to Ryan Tubridy on his radio show on 23 October 2020.
On television, Breslin spoke with Ryan Tubridy about the book on The Late Late Show on 20 November 2020.
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Old Ireland in Colour
Old Ireland in Colour is the first in a series of non-fiction history books written by Irish academics John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley. Released in Ireland in 2020 and in the US in 2021, it consists chiefly of colourisations of black-and-white historical photographs by Breslin along with historical context and captions written by Buckley.
It was Ireland's bestselling book during Christmas 2020 and was winner of the Best Irish-Published Book Award 2020. A sequel, Old Ireland in Colour 2, was announced in July 2021 and published in September 2021. A third book in the series, Old Ireland in Colour 3, was published in October 2023.
In August 2019, Breslin set up the Old Ireland in Colour project, which uses a combination of artificial intelligence techniques (such as DeOldify) and human artistry (using Photoshop) to colourise and restore historical photographs of Ireland and Irish people from the 19th and 20th centuries. Following on from the success of this project on social media, in March 2020 he approached his University of Galway colleague, the historian Sarah-Anne Buckley, to collaborate on an Old Ireland in Colour book featuring a curated selection of these photographs, and this was published by Merrion Press in October 2020.
The Old Ireland in Colour book is divided into five sections: The Irish Revolution; Society and Culture; Women and Children; The Irish Abroad; and Scenic Ireland. The book contains over 170 photographs, with about 30 to 40 colourised photographs per section.
In interviews with CNN and others, Breslin has spoken about the extensive research carried out into clothes colours, military uniforms, buildings and roofs, eye and hair colours (for example, using various passenger or prison records where available) and which was used for manually changing the colourised photographs.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the book did not have any formal launch or book signings, instead relying on mainstream media coverage both before and after its release.
Breslin and Buckley spoke to the Sunday Independent as part of a multi-page feature in their Life magazine on 18 October 2020. Buckley also talked to Ryan Tubridy on his radio show on 23 October 2020.
On television, Breslin spoke with Ryan Tubridy about the book on The Late Late Show on 20 November 2020.