Through the Lens of Father Browne, S.J.: Photographic Adventures of an Irish Priest

In fall 2024, the Raclin Murphy will present the first major exhibition in the United States featuring the work of Father Francis Browne, SJ, one of the most intriguing Irish photographers of the twentieth century. The Museum recently acquired this selection of 100 works from the artist’s archive. Born into an affluent family in Cork, Francis Mary Patrick Browne (1880-1860) was the youngest of eight children. By the time he was nine, both of his parents had died, and he became the ward of his uncle, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne. The bishop gave Browne his first camera at his graduation from secondary school at age seventeen.

In spring 1912, Browne received the gift of a ticket on the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic. He sailed from Southampton in England, to Cherbourg, France, then to Cobh in County Cork where he disembarked before the ship steamed into the North Atlantic. Following the Titanic disaster, Browne’s photographs of the ship, her passengers and crew, appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Their popularity enticed the Eastman Kodak Company in England to provide him with a continuing supply of film.