Massachusetts-based photographer Alanna Scully actually did what many of us dream of doing – she quit her steady job and boarded a plane to Ireland.
The 30-year-old Irish-American photographed her way through thirteen counties in three months. She found her roots, fell in love, made lifelong friends, and a came out with a stunning collection of photographs.
But on April 15, 2013 while she was in Killarney, Scully heard the news about the Boston Marathon bombings. She then decided to dedicate her trip and use her beautiful prints to raise money for the Massachusetts Resiliency Center, which provides counseling and financial support to Boston Marathon survivors and victims. So far she’s raised $500, and hopes to raise much more during the remaining three months of her donation project.
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Born and raised around Boston, Scully was devastated: “To be in such a beautiful place and to be able to document it with my camera was life-changing. But there was guilt too,” she told IrishCentral in an interview.
“I felt I shouldn't be having such happy moments when things were so chaotic in Boston. Some people had lost family members, friends, limbs. That's why I made the decision to sell my Ireland photographs to try to give to Boston in some tiny, miniscule way.”
Scully said her favorite place to photograph was Donegal: “there wasn’t a bad picture to take there.”
She also fell in love with Dingle, Galway, the Aran Islands, and a man from the Aran Islands, who spent the remainder of her time in Ireland showing her around the countryside.
Her family comes from Tipperary, and when she visited the Rock of Cashel, she found a gravestone with the engraving “O’Scully” – “I like to think that was a relative saying hi,” she said.
Scully is now selling her prints as well as a coffee table book of her photographs - all proceeds will go to the Massachusetts Resiliency Center until February 10.
Check them out, and click here to purchase her prints:
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"Baby lambs block the road to Tintern Abbey in Co. Wexford."
"Sheep showing me their better side at Kells Priory, Co. Kilkenny."
"Dramatic skies above Clifden [Co. Galway]."
"Donkeys trying to catch my attention at Muckross Traditional Farms."
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"The Slieve League Cliffs in Co. Donegal."
"A sheep grazes after sunset in Co. Donegal."
"A scenic drive with some other furry tourists outside of Co. Sligo."
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"Sunset on the Slieve League Cliffs."
"The seaside town of Lahinch [Co. Clare]."
For the rest of Alanna Scully's Ireland photographs, click here.
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*Originally published in 2014.
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