Beyond the clichés of Irish culture—the Irish affair with booze; their feisty reputation; and a proud poetic legacy—exists a dynamic country in transition.
“This country has undergone cataclysmic changes,” Irish photographer Seamus Murphy tells TIME. “It’s not just pink-faced people in a two-dimensional world. A lot of money has come in and out, and a couple of generations of people are entering, but the comedy, magic and lawlessness that is Ireland persists.”
Seamus Murphy’s latest book, released in Europe ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 armed uprising against British rule, offers a more nuanced look at modern-day Ireland—from the busy streets of Dublin to the immigrant-filled suburbs, wilder western shores, and new and aging landmarks.
Murphy, who considers himself an outsider to his home country, recalls a “frustrating” coming of age in a country begat by revolutionaries. “With every book, film or piece of music I digested the world beckoned and the road lead elsewhere,” he wrote in book’s foreword. “I couldn’t wait to leave.”
At 22, he set his sight on America, before continuing on to the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. The idea to photograph Ireland didn’t crystallize until 2012—on an eight-hour night trek through regime-held villages in Syria—when he remembered meeting Irish veterans. “I had traveled a lot, shooting pictures and listening to stories in other people’s countries. What about looking at my own country?” he wrote. “Now, over 30 years since leaving; an exile, escapee and outsider, I could try again.”
In 2014, Murphy began capturing images of Ireland. “I was looking for what often goes unnoticed and unrecorded, what moved and surprised me,” he explained. “Beyond all the revision, myths, politics and spin there should be some room left for dreams and wonder. After all, looking up at the stars on a clear night over County Roscommon can get a person thinking.”
Seamus Murphy is an Irish photographer who lives in London. He is the recipient of seven World Press Photo awards.
Michelle Molloy, who edited this photo essay, is a senior international photo editor at TIME.
Hebron Road, Co.Kilkenny.
A young boy from the Traveller community near his home off the Hebron Road in Kilkenny. Travellers, as individuals and as a group, experience a high level of prejudice and exclusion in Irish society. Seamus Murphy—PanosCounty Roscommon.
Tyre marks deliberately burned into the road by a joyrider.
Seamus Murphy—PanosTinahely. Co. Wicklow.
Contenders for the Wicklow Rose at the Tinahely Agricultural Show. The winning Rose will represent County Wicklow in the Rose of Tralee Festival.
Seamus Murphy—PanosBallaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon.
Children of South Asian origin on a
residential street.Seamus Murphy—PanosTuam. Co. Galway.
Huntsman of the North Galway Foxhounds John Pickering outside Bermingham House before the sending off of the hounds. Seamus Murphy—PanosBallinastack. Co. Galway.
Hunting with the North Galway Foxhounds.Seamus Murphy—PanosDundalk. Co. Louth.
Security attempting to catch a racegoer who was taking his clothes off to the music of a Dixie Jazz band at the Dundalk Races.Seamus Murphy—PanosDublin. A statue of Jesus and Mary in a window on Clarendon Street.Seamus Murphy—PanosDublin.
Dancers at PantiBar on Capel Street, one of the country’s best known gay venues. The bar was opened by gay rights activist and drag performer Rory O’Neill AKA Panti Bliss. Same-sex marriage became legal in Ireland from Nov. 16, 2015 after a national referendum on May 22, 2015.Seamus Murphy—PanosBallycroy. Co. Mayo.
A young girl in a bog she and her father have been working, known locally as turf cutting. Recently enacted European Union regulations, as well as Irish law, ban the collection of turf from 53 peat-bog conservation areas, despite the centuries-old tradition of burning peat as a heat source.
Seamus Murphy—PanosCurragh. Co. Kildare.
Two ladies at the Irish Derby at The Curragh Racecourse.
Seamus Murphy—PanosBallymun.
The Joseph Plunkett Tower in Ballymun, in north Dublin was the last remaining of one of Dublin’s most famous housing projects, its demolition began in September 2015. Seven towers were initially built for social housing in the 1960s and named for the executed 1916 rebels; Pearce, Connolly, Ceannt, Clarke, MacDermott, McDonagh and Plunkett,
Seamus Murphy—PanosNorth Esk. Co. Cork.
The shaft of a lamppost is covered by the growth of a wild shrub.Seamus Murphy—PanosKnock, Co. Mayo
Helpers at Knock, a place of Catholic pilgrimage after an alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary on Aug. 21, 1879.Seamus Murphy—PanosGrange. Killinick. Co. Wexford.
A man displays his horsemanship by riding backwards over a steep hedge during an afternoon with the Killinick Harriers Hunt Club.
Seamus Murphy—PanosTuam. Co. Galway.
A mother watches her two nephews playing for St. Croan’s (Roscommon) against Killanin (Galway) in the Connacht GAA Club Intermediate Football Championship Final
at Tuam Stadium. St Croan’s won.
Seamus Murphy—PanosPhibsboro. Dublin
A young girl looks out on the streetSeamus Murphy—PanosBallinteskin Hill. Co. Wicklow
A dog short of breath after herding sheep in the fields at Ballinteskin Hill. Seamus Murphy—PanosDunmanway, Co. Cork.
People drinking pints of Guinness
beer at a bar.Seamus Murphy—PanosDublin.
Members of the Philosophical society attending a debating contest at Trinity College, Seamus Murphy—PanosNavan, Co. Meath.
Women, from a family of South Asian
origin, cooking a meal in the kitchen,
while a toddler plays on the floor.Seamus Murphy—PanosDublin.
Two women in a bar on Middle Abbey
Street.Seamus Murphy—PanosBarnaderg. Co. Galway. A dilapidated keep.Seamus Murphy—PanosDublin.
A trans person in a club doorway on Capel Street.Seamus Murphy—PanosCo.Dublin.
A train passes by the sea at
Monkstown.
Seamus Murphy—PanosKillarney. Co. Kerry.
An Irish dancer practices for an international competition.Seamus Murphy—PanosCarrowbey. Co. Roscommon.
A clear night sky over Carrowbey. Seamus Murphy—Panos
