The Emergency in Colour brings wartime Ireland to life in dramatic colour.

Through extensive research, the photos presented here have been painstakingly hand-colourised by photographer John O’Byrne, showing what life on the island was like in extraordinary times.

There are over 200 photographs from across the country, many of which have never been published before, all of them accompanied by fascinating and accessible captions from historian Michael B. Barry.

Michael B. Barry is a historian and author of many books. John O’Byrne is a professional photographer and colouriser, specialising in colourising military scenes from the early twentieth century.

Their first collaboration, The Irish Civil War in Colour, was a bestseller and nominated for Best Irish-Published Book of the Year at the 2022 An Post Irish Book Awards. Their second book, A Nation is Born, was also nominated in the same category.