Galway City Museum is currently showing an exhibition of photographs, which mark the beginnings of an independent Ireland marketing itself as international tourist destination.

Taken mainly in the 1950s, the images on display were commissioned by the Irish government tourist board (Bord Fáilte Éireann, today Fáilte Ireland). The board's in-house photographers; Tom Hayden, senior photographer and two apprentice photographers Paddy Tutty and Paddy O'Dea travelled the country taking photographs of scenes that would specifically appeal to an overseas audience and give them an idea of what to expect if you visited Ireland.

The photographs were made available to journalists travelling to Ireland from aboard, to overseas press and tourist boards, to hotels and to all Irish government departments including Aer Lingus.

They were particularly popular with an English audience, and the press there gave them significant coverage in their supplements.

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