A family of smallholders outside their thatched cottage in Gweedore, Co DonegalGetty Images x Ancestry

Incredible images depicting major moments in Ireland’s history have been made available online thanks to Getty and family history website, Ancestry.

More than 120 striking images have been collated in collaboration between Getty Images and the genealogy website, to provide historians and history enthusiasts alike with a new range of resources.  

Images now available digitally include scenes from over 150 years of Irish history - including scenes from significant events like the 1911 rail strike, the 1916 Rising, and the Land War.

Other incredible photographs shows scenes like a mass grave of coffins in Queenstown, Co Cork (below), and the aftermath of an explosion along the Quays in Dublin in 1916.

(Image via Ancestry.co.uk)

Also now available in the collection is a photograph dating back to 1916, which shows two British guards standing at one of the entrances to the Four Courts during the Rising, which had been barricaded with wooden chairs and mattresses.

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Aside from the images which convey milestones in Irish history, subsequent photos also display everyday life in rural Ireland, families, women in the workplace, cultural celebrations, sports stars, and wildlife.

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Speaking about the new collection, Russell James of Ancestry.co.uk said, “These black-and-white prints and photos are a journey through the decades and document almost every aspect of life, from daily routines through to occasions of national celebration.”

He added that the “sizable collection” is a “historical reminder of an ever-changing world, as seen through the lens of photographers working for the most famous name in the field.”

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Some of the Getty images have been published before, but have not previously been collected together and made available.

The world-renowned photography resource was co-founded by Mark Getty, grandson of the late oil tycoon John Paul Getty.

The newly digitized Irish collection is available online at ancestry.co.uk.