A Titanic talent

AN EXCITING photographic exhibition exploring the work of Fr Frank Browne is now on display in Farmleigh Gallery, Phoenix Park.

‘Frank Browne – Through the Lens’ was officially opened by An Tanaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, on November 1 and it will run until December 23.

The exhibition chronicles Fr Browne’s lifetime of photography and includes some of his internationally renowned Titanic photographs – many of which capture the maiden voyage of the ill-fated liner.

Born in 1880 in Cork, Browne was raised by his uncle, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne. In 1897, prior to joining the Jesuits, he embarked on a tour of Europe and, armed with a camera gifted by his uncle, took the first of his many photographs.

Upon return to Ireland, Browne joined the Irish Jesuits, and after two years at St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, Co Offaly, he attended the Royal University, Dublin, where he was a classmate of James Joyce, who immortalized him as a character in Finnegan’s Wake.
In 1912, Browne received another present from his uncle – a ticket for the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic.

He captured the last known pictures of many of the passengers and crew, and only escaped almost certain death when he received a telegraph from a superior telling him to depart the ship before she set sail for New York.

Browne’s photographs aboard the doomed Titanic went on to appear in many publications around the world.

Following his ordination, Father Browne went on to serve as chaplain to the Irish Guards in 1916, and took many iconic photographs of the first world war, including one called

‘Watch on the Rhine’, which is considered a classic image of World War 1.

After the war and following ill-health he was sent to Australia where he took photographs capturing the much-varied life across the continent.

Before returning to Ireland, Browne visited places from Suez to Naples and Lisbon to Gibraltar, amassing a huge collection of more than 42,000 photographs.

When he came back to Ireland, he resumed office as the Superior of St Xavier’s Church in Dublin, and in 1929 was appointed to the Retreats and Mission staff of the Irish Jesuits.

Browne took photographs of parishes all across Ireland, and enjoyed considerable free time to indulge his talent.

Father Browne died in Dublin in 1960 and his negatives remained forgotten for 25 years until discovered by chance in 1986, when they were found in a large metal trunk in the Irish Jesuit archives.

A total of 23 volumes of these photographs have now been published, including

‘Father Browne’s Titanic Album’ and

‘Frank Browne, A Life Through the Lens’.

Entry to the exhibition in Farmleigh Gallery is free and it offers a unique chance to view Fr Browne’s work, who from images of the Titanic to World War I captured historic moments from our not so distant past.