High sales prompt reprint of stunning Mullingar book

With what words can one summarise the skills that make photographer and writer Matt Nolan such engaging company? Photographer and writer don’t on their own do justice to Matt, who is an enthralling storyteller, a collector of tales, a linguist, a historian and a man who greets every task he embraces with passion and enthusiasm.

He is also a tour guide, he has done radio presenting – and managed to fit in an entire career with the Inland Fisheries Service as well before retirement left him free to really throw his energies into his creative work.

Eight years ago, Matt brought out ‘Mullingar – Time Goes By’ – a mesmerising collection of photographs of local faces, the fruit of 40 years of snapping shots of the ordinary – and extraordinary – people of this county.

That book made history: “Booksellers tell me it’s the biggest-selling local book ever about this area,” says Matt.

Four thousand copies were sold, and orders for the book came in from as far away as Australia and Canada.

“People are still looking to buy it,” Matt says – going on to explain that means he has just recently had to order another print run to cater for the ongoing demand.

He has discovered the book has proven particularly popular as a present for men, as the women in their lives look for something more interesting to give them than pens, aftershave or ties.

There are hundreds of pictures in the book, each accompanied by explanatory captions that give context to the shots – sometimes giving a potted biography of the subject, other times a memory attached to the occasion on which the photo was taken.

It is a book focused on Mullingar and its citizens. It gives a real insight into the character of the people – but also of the lives lived, featuring people at work and play, covering everything from agriculture to industry, politics, sport, drama and religion.

“One of the saddest parts about the book is the fact that so many of those who are in it are now dead,” Matt says.

“And I knew every one of them. I knew every single one of them and I knew them well and I would often drink tea with them before I would take their photograph.”

Originally from Galway, but living in Mullingar for more than 50 years, Matt has had several books published: a previous one featuring photographs of people from Mullingar was also a best-seller; he has written a history of the Rathcarn Gaeltacht. He is working on a history of the Order of St Camillus in this country, which has recently led him to a 10-day research trip to one of the order’s houses, on the outskirts of Paris. Also in the pipeline is another book about people from this area: “It’s about people who have made a difference,” he says.