For over four decades, Lifford photographer Joe Boland has been the man behind the lens, and never the one in their focus.
However now his new exhibition “A Day in the Life – Donegal” is showcasing the heart and soul of the county through the lens of a man who has seen it all throughout his storied career.
The exhibition is open to the public at Cara House in Letterkenny, and is running until Tuesday the 15th of April.
“I refused for years,” Joe says.
“It never felt like it was my cup of tea.”
“Eventually, I gave in. The reason I agreed was the pressure from a few friends – and also because it would be in Cara House. I wanted it in Cara House for two reasons: I am involved there; and it is socially inclusive.”
Joe is the Chairperson of the Cara House Family Resource Centre, one of his many roles within the community in Donegal.
“Every photo is different and there is a story behind all of the photos,” he says, with 32 of his photos on display, selected by a group of three people who whittled down the total from an initial 160 images.
There’s a former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern outstretched on a bench in Glenties at the 2018 MacGill Summer School, alongside Joe Mulholland and former French Ambassador to Ireland Stéphane Crouzat.
‘Just Peter’ shows Peter Robinson, the ex First Minister of Northern Ireland, on the stage at MacGill and there is Glenties, too, in the form of its favourite son, a smiling Jim McGuinness and a freshly-dunked Joe Brolly, from the Polar Plunge in Rathmullan, is among the collection.
Robinson sits in front of a banner outlining his topic at MacGill – The future of Ireland in a new Europe: The challenges ahead?
Mickey Joe Harte took on a Europe of a different sort, blasting ‘We’ve Got the World’ for the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia.
Boland was in Riga with a cohort of local press folk for that performance and he was present too for the portrait that forms part of his exhibition; taken at the Together for Creeslough concert in January 2003, from which a photo of the legendary Moya Brennan was taken.
Daniel O’Donnell, on the Noah’s Bed Push, and Ronan Keating, at the Muff Liquor opening, feature without a mic too.
Local issues like the defective concrete block crisis and flooding are included and an array of groups from Africa Day, Gay Pride and Palestine protestors to the Royal Black Preceptory are all depicted.
The last Mass of Bishop Alan McGuckian in St Eunan’s Cathedral and the last day of Sergeant Paul Wallace in Letterkenny Garda Station were captured by Boland, who took a portrait of young Muireann Bradley just as her star was rising and Mona McSharry on a homecoming to Ballyshannon after her star shot to the top.
“I am delighted with it,” Boland says. “It’s bright and colourful. The reaction has been very positive. I never expected people to be interested at all.
“I deliberately didn’t want to see the photos they selected before they went on display.
“There have been some really good reactions – and from people that I didn’t expect.”
The exhibition opened in time for the One Donegal Social Inclusion Week 2025 and the images illustrate a different and changing Donegal.
Wildlife, says the long-suffering Finn Harps enthusiast, is his “therapy” and his arm might be twisted yet for an exhibition of his photos from that genre.
A former soldier, Boland previously worked as a staff photographer with the Derry Journal and his freelance work, from news and sports markings, are now carried across a variety of local and national outlets. Often, the job takes him to dark spots; fatal crashes, for instance, “they bring you down to earth and make you appreciate what you have”.
In September 1980, the Donegal People’s Press carried a photo of Declan Gallagher from the Coneyburrow in Lifford. His neighbour, Boland, took the photo.
“A lot of the job has changed so much, but it’s still great to get out to chat with people,” he says.
“I enjoy it. I wouldn’t do what I do if I didn’t enjoy it.”
