Barry Delaney

Inspired by the colour, energy and the DIY attitude of punk, Barry Delaney fled the grey Dublin of the early 1980s, to travel the world. Along the way he fell in love with film photography. Twenty years on, after quitting alcohol he began making pictures again, beginning on the streets of Dublin, a place well familiar to him. Since then he has moved on to other parts of Ireland and across the ocean to America. In 2008, Barry won the TG4 Irish photographer of the 21st Century. He has had six solo exhibitions in Dublin, including an historic show in the GPO in 2019, where he also launched his first book Stars and Souls of the Liffey. Last year he launched a book on Modern America, with poet John O'Donnell - Americans Anonymous. He aims to complete the trilogy with a book on the Forty Foot next year.

Forty Footer

September 25, 2022September 25, 2022 Barry Delaney

Sixteen years ago, I wandered down to the Forty Foot to take some pictures of winter swimmers, one of the first swimmers I encountered was Tim; every week that winter I took pictures, building my collection and getting to know Tim and the other hardy swimmers, of which there was very few. I was going … Read more

Dublin’s Forty Foot over Fourteen Years

January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 Barry Delaney

For the past fourteen years I have been a daily swimmer at the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire – my home town. Seven years ago I began documenting this life down by Sandycove, particularly those summer days when the sporadic Irish sun comes out, a signal for Dubliners everywhere to descend on this place to cool … Read more

‘If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere’

October 4, 2020October 3, 2020 Barry Delaney

2019 was a great year for me, my first book was published and had a historic exhibition in the GPO – Stars and Souls of the Liffey – I had arrived, my Everest. January 2020 started slowly, but I watched as a new virus was decimating an unknown city in China called Wuhan. From a … Read more

Freedom’s Just Another Word

July 2, 2020July 1, 2020 Barry Delaney

I left a depressed New York city following the surprise election of Donald Trump in November 2016; a city reeling in disbelief at what occurred – but I had captured history unfold in Time Square – now I was heading into the heartland of how this had actually happened – the Rust Belt – then … Read more