A photographer whose work just kept popping up again and again as we searched for cool images of Kilcoole, we finally managed to track Chris Dobson down recently.

Our goal was simple – let the man himself put his wonderful work into focus.

We’ll be returning to young Dobson’s shots again – especially as we finally get around to building up a stand-aone Kilcoole archive and history on the Guide – but, for now, bask in the beauty of the man’s work. And words.

Over to you, Chris…

Being a native of Kilcoole, and spending my early years on the Sea Road, I became interested in photography when I was still in primary school.
I remember paying off 50 pence a week to buy an Agfa Instamatic from our local chemist, which was six pounds at the time. I was 10 years old. Later in my teens, I moved to a Russian Zenit SLR, and then on to Olympus OM10s. They were a big deal back then.
I embraced digital in the early 2000s, and have been bobbing along ever since.

To me, photography is capturing that moment in time, whatever it may be. It also acts as a record of something that may be forgotten with the passage of time.
Today, with the internet, our photographs are immortalised, never to be lost in that old shoe box ever again.
Which, I suppose, isn’t a bad thing.

Darn tootin’.

Big thanks to Chris for sharing these shots, and for giving us a little background on them too. This could be the start of a beautiful relationship…

Aerial View of Lott Lane, Kilcoole

Woodstock House

Sunset at Kilcoole Breaches

Holy, that sky…

Skylark at Kilcoole Seafront

Little Tern Chicks at Kilcoole

Kilcoole Gunrunning Plaque

Grey Heron at Kilcoole Seafront

Fairground at Upper Green

Demolition of Lee’s Pub 2004

Ballygannon House

Aerial View of Kilcoole Main Street

Kilcoole Community Centre

Opening of Kilcoole Community Centre

Opening of Kilcoole Church 1968

Moonlit View of Kilcoole

Kilcoole Gunrunning Centenary

Kilcoole From The Sea

You can check out Chris’ work on Facebook here, and on Flickr here.