Public lecture by Dr Karol Mullaney-Dignam on nineteenth-century photography and Irish cultural history

Dr Karol Mullaney Dignam, Department of History, delivered a public lecture on the pioneering nineteenth-century Clonmel photographer and medical doctor William Despard Hemphill, at The Source library in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The lecture was part of the invitational Tipperary People and Places Lecture Series and discussed Hemphill's life and contribution to Irish photography. Dr Hemphill was born at Springhill, Killenaule, in 1816. After qualifying as a doctor, he settled with his wife at Oakville House, Clonmel. He is best known for his stereoscopic (3D) images of local big houses and heritage sites. Dr Mullaney-Dignam previously led a public history project on Hemphill and his work, in collaboration with the Office of Public Works (OPW), among the outputs of which were a travelling exhibition and an edited book titled 'William Despard Hemphill: Irish Victorian Photographer' (2014).