Old Ireland in Colour 2 is set to be published by Merrion Press this September.
In Old Ireland in Colour 2, the much-anticipated sequel to their beloved bestseller Old Ireland in Colour, authors John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley have delved even deeper into Ireland’s historical archives to uncover captivating photographic gems to bring to life using a unique blend of cutting-edge technology, historical research, and expert colourisation.
Old Ireland in Colour 2 celebrates more of the rich history of Ireland and the Irish from all walks of life and from all four provinces, as well as the Irish abroad, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
From the chaos of the Civil War to the simple beauty of the islands, from the iconic to the domestic, there is something new and inspiring to be gleaned from every single page.
You can pre-order Old Ireland in Colour 2 from Irish bookshop Eason's here.
Delighted to announce "OId Ireland in Colour 2": the follow-up to Ireland’s Christmas #1 2020 and bestselling book by revenue in 2020 (Nielsen BookScan), and winner of Best Irish-Published Book of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards!
Video by @bomediatv; theme by @DjDashka pic.twitter.com/ohUlvydR2A
— Old Irland in Colour (@irelandincolour) July 9, 2021
The first book in the series, Old Ireland in Colour, was published in October 2020 by Merrion Press and went on to enjoy great success, including being named the Best Irish-Published Book of the Year at the 2020 An Post Irish Book Awards.
Old Ireland in Colour was the December 2020 selection for the IrishCentral Book Club.
In 2019, author John Breslin found the Old Ireland in Colour Project which quickly went viral on social media, and has since amassed more than 44,000 followers on Instagram and a further 27,000 followers on Twitter.
Breslin, from NUI Galway’s Data Science Institute, began colorizing old family photographs and old images of County Galway using DeOldify, an artificial intelligence-based system that automatically colorizes black and white photographs. He then imported the images into PhotoShop to add specific details, such as eye color and hair color.
The images proved to be a huge hit on social media and Breslin began to branch out, teaming up with social historian Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley to colorize hundreds of photographs from multiple eras of Irish history.
The pair teamed up to turn what was then a social media phenomenon into a bestselling book with Breslin responsible for the book's 170-odd photographs and Buckley responsible for the detailed contextual captions that appear beside them.
Through painstaking research, Breslin and Buckley unraveled every minute detail of black and white photographs in historical archives, including The National Library of Ireland, the National Folklore Collection, and the Library of Congress.
You can learn more about Old Ireland in Colour on its website.
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