Paddy MacMonagle (b. 1920) (Part 1)

Track 1: Paddy MacMonagle recalls his father, Donegal man Daniel MacMonagle, and describes the circumstances which brought him to Killarney in 1908. He went into the photography business with Louis Anthony, working the Tour Gap, before opening his own studio at New Lane, now known as St Anthony’s Place. He supplied the newspapers with news photographs as his main business. Paddy MacMonagle explains that his father married Catherine Fogarty whose father was an RIC sergeant in Killarney, and he discusses the setting up of The Kingdom newspaper in the town and his father having to work there under threat by the IRA during the Civil War. Track 2: Paddy recalls his childhood, lived over the family business in New Lane, his education by the Salesian Brothers at Pallaskenry and at St Brendan’s College, Killarney. He also explains that his father took over the printing of postcards following the death of Louis Anthony in 1933. Track 3: His early days in business with his father in 1939 are recalled, as is the food rationing and the fact that printing work from the Local Council was a major part of their business at that lean time. The artistic work and the colourful billheads and other items produced by the printing works are recalled in detail. A humourous piece of doggerel, written in relation to the dance hall behind the Town Hall, is recited by Paddy MacMonagle. Track 4: The Lake Scouts of earlier days, of which Paddy MacMonagle was a member, his colleagues and the leader Fr Tom Lyne are remembered. Track 5: His early photography, the cameras used and the wonderful archive of MacMonagle photographs are also discussed. The changes which occurred in photography during the post war era are explained, and his MacMonagle siblings and their work lives are discussed.