Abbeyleix man Jim Fennelly won Ireland AM’s July Camera Club competition earlier last week.
Jim was one of three finalists taking photos under the theme of ‘Ireland at Home and Abroad’.
Jim’s photo of Jimmy Bannon sowing oats shows an old Ireland- an Ireland which Jim says, “is Ireland to me, with the man of the ground.”
We met Jim at his home in Abbeyleix. He said he was shocked and thrilled to win the competiton.
“I usually watch Ireland AM and saw the photography competition come up. I received a lot of positive comments about the photo at a Mountrath Camera Club exhibition and decided to enter it.”
“I got a phone call last weekend asking me if I could come to Dublin on Tuesday,” he added.
Jim said he has always had an interest in photography, but it was only after work accident which left him needing a wheelchair that he started to pursue his interest.
“Alf and Jeff Harvey really lit a fire under me. Alf rang one day and said, ‘I’m doing a course, get your camera and come with me.'”
Jim and Alf now regularly travel to the Electric Picnic and the National Ploughing Championships. But Jim’s passion lies in following the Laois Hunt.
The Hunt
“I’ve always had a great interest in the Hunt. I’ve been following the Hunt since the old days in Mill Street, I think I’ll always follow the horse.”
Jim takes up-close shots of the riders and the horses on the Hunt, which people are usually eager to see.
“Last year my powerchair failed and I couldn’t get in to see the action. JJ McEvoy and one or two others helped carry my chair into the grounds. After carrying me 30 yards JJ said, ‘Well I got you in, but I don’t know how I’ll get you out!'”
Jim’s work speaks for itself- he is Chairman of the Mountrath Camera Club and has been praised by Alf Harvey as being, “an amazing photographer, and a great friend.”
Jim and his wife Kathleen are now set for a night away in the Marker Hotel as part of the July Camera Club’s prize.
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