Launch of our first digital book

The Irish Photo Archive and ePublish  are delighted to announce that Minister of Diaspora Affairs Jimmy Deenihan is launching our inaugural digital book, President John F. Kennedy Visits in 1963, at the Irish Consulate building in New York on 4 November 2014.

This digital book is the result of a collaboration between two very different Irish companies, Irish Photo Archive and ePublish. The Irish Photo Archive is the largest private collection of historical images in Ireland whilst ePublish is a new and exciting digital publishing agency working with independent authors to produce interactive digital publications.

Our first digital book

President John F. Kennedy Visits in 1963 is structured around the images taken by the Lensmen photographers of JFK while he was on tour in Ireland. Many of these images have not been published since they were taken over 50 years ago, and many are unique. For instance, Andy Farren, one of the founders of the Lensmen agency, was the only professional photographer allowed inside the Kennedy homestead. 

The digital book follows Kennedy on his trip around Ireland, from Air Force One touching down at Dublin Airport to his farewells four days later. We see the ceremonies planned for his trip, the crowds that turned out everywhere to greet him, and Kennedy’s own enthusiasm for Ireland and the Irish people. The book does not just focus on Kennedy alone, but also all the other key personalities involved in bringing him to Ireland; De Valera, Lemass, Frank Aiken, the Ryan family of Dunganstown, Ambassador Matt McCluskey, etc. as well as others that shone out while Kennedy was here, e.g. the cadets performing the Funeral Drill at Arbour Hill.

Minister Deenihan is also the first ever Minister for Diaspora Affairs, and we are honoured that he chose our digital book as the Irish product he would launch on his first official visit to the US. He first became involved in the project when he contributed a foreword to the book, and has since thrown his full support behind the Irish Photo Archive and our plans for the future. We hope the interaction of our historical resources and the cutting edge technology provided by ePublish will open doors to new audiences across the globe.