The Sunday Tribune Photo Archive – An Introduction
In 2011 in Dublin city centre, Nicholas Carolan and Brian Doyle of the Irish Traditional Music Archive spotted a skip outside the offices of the Sunday Tribune. The newspaper was closing down and in the skip were thousands of photos in clearly labelled brown A4 envelopes. Carolan and Doyle and another staff member, Grace Toland, rescued the music and arts photos before the skip was taken away that day, stored the traditional music ones in the Archive, and suggested that I keep the others in case they could be used in the Journal of Music. 

The photos cover classical, jazz, pop, rock, theatre, dance and opera in Ireland in the 1980s and 90s. In recent months, I finally had a chance to look through them all and have included here a selection of 24. Together, they provide a fascinating glimpse into musical life in the 1980s and 90s in Ireland. We plan to publish more selections in the future. Should you have further information about these photographs, please email editor [at] journalofmusic.com.

1. Playwright Tom Murphy and actor Tom Hickey launching The Gigli Concert

The Gigli Concert, regarded as playwright Tom Murphy’s finest work, is about a construction millionaire, played by Tom Hickey, who wants to learn to sing. It was premiered at the Abbey Theatre in 1983 but this photo dates from a revival of the play in March 1991. It was taken by Tony Gavin at the launch at Café Caruso on South William Street in Dublin. 

2. Violinist Mircea Petcu and his daughter Anna with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra

The Petcus are a well-known musical family in Ireland with roots in Romania. This image shows violinist Mircea Petcu and his six-year-old daughter Anna during a rehearsal for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in October 1989. (Photo: Tony Gavin)

3. Regina Nathan at the National Concert Hall in 1991

In 1991, soprano Regina Nathan represented Ireland at the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. She is pictured here in December of that year with make-up artist Sheila Cullen ahead of a Christmas performance at the National Concert Hall. (Photo: Paul Daly) 

4. Mstislav Rostropovich and Dearbhla Brosnan at Dublin Airport in 1981

This photo by Patrick Monahan shows a ten-year-old Dearbhla Brosnan greeting the renowned musician Mstislav Rostropovich at Dublin Airport on 1 October 1981. The Russian cellist and his wife, the singer Galina Vishnevskaya, flew into Dublin for two concerts at the National Concert Hall. In the background are, from left to right, Dame Ruth Railton, Fred O’Donovan (Chair of the NCH), Elena Rostropovich (the cellist’s daughter) and Vishnevskaya. Brosnan is now a teacher of piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (Photo: Patrick Monaghan)

5. Composer Michael Nyman in Dublin in the 1990s

English composer Michael Nyman had considerable success in 1993 with his score for Jane Campion’s film The Piano. This photo was taken when he subsequently visited Dublin for a performance in the 1990s. (Photo: Bryan Meade)

6. Pianist Maria McGarry in 1998

Maria McGarry, now a well-known pianist and teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, is pictured here in 1998 after winning the Lisney Young Pianist Award. McGarry went on to study at the Juilliard School in New York and won the John Field and Brennan Prizes at the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition. (Photo: Frank Fennell/Fennell Photography)

7. The Pale on Grafton Street 

The Pale are an Irish rock band who had notable success with their 1992 album Here’s One We Made Earlier and in particular their songs ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Dogs with No Tails’. In this photo, band members Shane Wearen (mandolin) and Matthew Devereux (vocals) perform outside HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin on World AIDS day in 1991. (Photo: John Carlos)

8. Violinist Michael D’Arcy in 1990

This photo of violinist Michael D’Arcy was taken in 1990 after he won the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition. D’Arcy went on to perform worldwide and returned to become leader of the National Symphony Orchestra during their 1992/1993 season, taking up the same position with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 1994, a position he held until 2000.  He has been concertmaster of Camerata Ireland since it was formed in 1999. He is also professor of violin performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. (Photo: © Kevin Cooper Photoline)

9. Maria Kelemen’s music class

Young European Strings was established in Dublin in 1988 by Hungarian-born viola player Maria Kelemen and she has taught generations of young Irish musicians since. This photo was taken in the early 1990s by Ann Egan. 

10. Guitarist Brian May at Slane 

Queen played Slane Castle on 5 July 1986. This press conference photo features the band’s guitarist Brian May, Lord Henry Mount Charles and promoter Jim Aiken. (Photo: John Carlos)

11. Mother and daughter composers Elizabeth Maconchy and Nicola LeFanu 

Taken in the early 1980s, this photo features mother and daughter composers Elizabeth Maconchy and Nicola LeFanu. Maconchy was born in England to Irish parents and grew up in Ireland and England. Nicola LeFanu was born in England and became Professor of Music at the University of York until she retired in 2008. (Photo: Lionel Cherrault/Camera Press)

12. Courtney Pine at the Cork Jazz Festival 

This photo of British saxophone player Courtney Pine in the 1980s was part of an exhibition by Matt Kavanagh titled ‘All That Jazz’, which featured artists who had played at the Cork Jazz Festival. (Photo: Matt Kavanagh)

13. Violinist Elizabeth Cooney in 1984

A photo of violinist Elizabeth Cooney in 1984 when she represented Ireland at the 10th European Broadcasting Union concert in Sweden. Now London-based, Cooney regularly plays with the Aurora orchestra, most recently performing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the BBC Proms. She is also director of Farnham Chamber Music Festival. (Photo: John Sheehan)

14. Drummer Emmaline Duffy-Fallon

Emmaline Duffy-Fallon was the drummer with 1990s Irish band Engine Alley. In 1992, they released the album A Sonic Holiday, which included the popular song ‘Mrs Winder’. The album was released on U2’s Mother Records. Duffy-Fallon is seen here attending the Smithwick’s Hot Press Music Critics Awards in Dublin in February 1993. (Photo: Ann Egan)

15. Pianist Ethna Tinney 

During the 1980s and 1990s Ethna Tinney had a busy career as a pianist before joining RTÉ Lyric FM as a producer when it was established in 1999. After she left RTÉ she began performing again in 2015. This is a publicity shot from the 1980s by Declan Hanahan.

16. Composer Ian Wilson after winning the Ó Riada Prize in 1991

The Amadeus Prize was an international composers’ competition established by Toyota Ireland. Belfast composer Ian Wilson was the 1991 winner of the Ó Riada Prize for Irish composers under 35. (Photographer unknown)

17. Filmmaker John Carney at the POD 

In the mid-1990s, a Sunday Tribune photographer took photos of those attending the POD nightclub on Harcourt Street in Dublin. Among the attendees were 23-year-old filmmaker John Carney and Maria McGrath. Carney would go on to make the Oscar-winning Once (2007) as well as Sing Street (2016) and Flora and Son (2023). (Photographer unknown)

18. Singer Kieran Kennedy at the POD 

This photo of Irish singer Kieran Kennedy is another from the POD series of photos. Kennedy was a member of the Black Velvet Band with Maria Doyle Kennedy at the time and they made a number of recordings for U2’s Mother Records in the 1980s and 90s. At the time of this photo, he had also recently released his solo album Pagan Irish, which was followed by Foxymoron in 1997 and The Storms are on the Ocean with Doyle Kennedy in 2011. (Photographer unknown)

19. Maria McKee and Tom Dunne at the Hot Press Awards in 1991

The Smithwick’s Hot Press Awards took place at the Stillorgan Park Hotel in January 1991. Among those attending were the singer and songwriter Maria McKee, who had huge success with the song ‘Show Me Heaven’ the previous year, and Tom Dunne of the Irish rock band Something Happens who had just released their classic album Stuck Together With God’s Glue. (Photo: Kyran O’Brien)

20. Ray Davies of The Kinks by the Liffey

In October 1994, The Kinks released the live album To the Bone and Ray Davies and his brother Dave appeared on the Late Late Show on RTÉ. This photo was taken by the river Liffey on 15 October by Derek Speirs.

21. Jazz guitarist Tommy Halferty

Tommy Halferty is regarded as one of Ireland’s great jazz guitarists. He has led the Tommy Halferty Trio for many years and has also performed with John Abercrombie and Stéphane Grappelli. Among his albums are In Two with Mike Nielsen and recordings with Keith Copeland, Khanda and Norma Winstone. This photo is a publicity shot from the 1980s by Bob Hobby.

22. Irish composers with students of Athlone Community College

It is not clear what the occasion was for this photo, but it appears to have been taken in the 1990s. It features Irish composers Frank Corcoran, Raymond Deane, Gerald Barry and Fergus Johnston with students and staff of Athlone Community College. (Photographer unknown)

23. Paul Cleary of The Blades and Larry Gogan of RTÉ

This 1985 RTÉ publicity photo of Paul Cleary of The Blades and Radio 2 DJ Larry Gogan was taken to mark ’the first copy of the Live Aid book to arrive in Ireland’. The book, written by Peter Hillmore, was a prize in a phone-in quiz on the show.  Cleary had recently recorded the song ‘Show Some Concern’, which was written to raise funds for charity and was released in March 1985. (Photographer unknown)

24. Nicola and Annette Cleary at Bewley’s in 1984

Nicola and Annette Cleary of Blackrock, Co. Dublin, were participating in the Bewley’s Entertainment Contest in Dublin on 15 September 1984 when John Carlos took this photo. Today, Nicola specialises in early music and was Artistic Director of the Sligo Baroque Music Festival from 2019 to 2024. Annette Cleary is also a professional musician and lectures in cello at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. (Picture: John Carlos)

If you have further information about these photographs, please email editor [at] journalofmusic.com.

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