Katie Rose Caalaman

Ireland, 2023

Ireland is an interview with my mother about growing up in the Irish countryside as the only daughter in a family of six. Combined with photography by her and her niece, Laura, Mairead shares her experience of being rasied on a farm to a Catholic family in a conservative town, and how that has shaped her into the person she is today. Many of the photos include my mother as a young girl with her family as well images that she took during my childhood summers where we often spent in her hometown, other rural towns, and in Dublin. A handful of these photographs were taken by Laura who photographed our uncle, who is also a photographer and the only family member who remains in Ireland.

Nature is key visual element and component of the Irish countryside that can be seen in many of the images. An overgrown lane, damp bogs, rivers and lakes that weave through the towns, farm dogs, overgrown ivy, spittle bugs, purple foxgloves, and moss covered steps. The list could go on and on.

This project allowed me to reflect on my Irish identity and what it meant to grow up immersed in nature. By spending time interviewing my mother, I learned about what being Irish means to her and how she feels about the country after having not lived there most of her life.

I speak for both of us when I say we look forward to returning to this home someday soon.