Sunny Memories Killarney 1867 F.H. Mares 15 Photographs Rare Photo Album

📸 1867 Killarney Photo Album by F.H. Mares — 15 Original Sepia Photographs of Ireland’s Most Famous Landscapes

A rare 15-photograph edition of one of the most collectible Victorian albums of Irish scenery.

**HISTORICAL CONTEXT**

Killarney was the premier tourist destination in 19th-century Ireland, drawing visitors from across Europe to see its lakes, waterfalls, and medieval ruins. This album was published in 1867, at the height of the Grand Tour era, when photographic albums like this were the souvenirs of choice for travelers who visited the region.

**THE ALBUM**

“Sunny Memories of Ireland’s Scenic Beauties, Killarney” was photographically illustrated by F.H. Mares, a professional photographer based in Dublin, and published by Browne & Nolan. Each of the 15 actual photographic prints is mounted on individual pages with an ornate printed border and a descriptive text caption. The photographs are genuine albumen-style prints — original photographic paper pasted directly into the album, not printed reproductions. The title page features gold-embossed lettering within an elaborate decorative border.

**PHOTOGRAPHS AND CONTENT**

The album documents 15 landmarks and scenic views across Killarney National Park, Ireland’s first national park. Photographs include a general panoramic view of the lakes, Ross Castle (a 15th-century fortress on a peninsula of Ross), the Lower Lake from Innisfallen Island, O’Sullivan’s Cascade, Glena Bay, Brickeen Bridge, the Middle (Torc) Lake, Muckross Abbey ruins, Torc Cascade, the Landing Place at Dinis Island, the Old Weir Bridge, Eagle’s Nest Mountain, the Upper Lake, the Black Valley, and the Gap of Dunloe. Each photograph is paired with a facing text page providing historical and descriptive commentary. The sepia-toned images show remarkable clarity for their era, with horse-drawn carts and period travelers visible in several scenes.

**WHY IT MATTERS**

– This edition contains 15 photographs — the standard printing has only 12, making this copy rarer
– F.H. Mares was a recognized professional photographer in Dublin; these are among the earliest professional photographs of Killarney
– Published by Browne & Nolan, one of Dublin’s prominent publishing houses of the period
– The National Library of Ireland holds a copy in its permanent photography collection, cited in “Into The Light: An Illustrated Guide to the Photographic Collections in the National Library of Ireland”
– Green cloth-wrapped boards with gold-embossed decorative cover design featuring a central emblem with winged figures, harp, and clover wreath, framed by double gold-line borders

**FOR COLLECTORS**

A 15-photograph edition of Mares’s Killarney album in original green cloth binding, complete with all prints intact and gilt-edged pages. These albums are increasingly scarce, particularly copies with the extended 15-image format. Healy Rare Books valued a 12-photograph copy at €650.

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**CONDITION:**

This is a “good” or better antique book with intact binding but weakened hinges. No loose or torn or folded pages. Some light foxing and spotting in places. I am not entirely sure, but the front free end paper looks to be adhered to the front paste down because the book opens immediately to the title page and what appears to be the paste down is of the same paper type as the other pages, yet looking at the back of the book, free end paper and the paste down are different color. The pages are lightly waved due to the photos being of a glossy paper and having been pasted to each page. The front cover cloth is a little lifted in some places and there is some spotting to the cloth (see accompanying images). The board corners are worn and show the underlying board.

Overall, while not perfect, it is complete, the photos are rather stunning and it is a pleasing book.

Of note: This printing has 15 photographs (see image of the table of contents), similar books typically have just 12.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged, insured.

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HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-04

1 in stock