NI photographer's new book features images of 150 abandoned buildings across Ireland

Photographer Rebecca Brownlie, from Maghaberry, sums it up succinctly in the introduction to her recently published book Abandoned Ireland – it’s about “who lived there, what the building had once been and, ultimately, why it was now abandoned.”

Abandoned Ireland contains more than 150 haunting colour photographs of abandoned homes, schools, churches, prisons, dance halls, and more, from all across the island of Ireland.

Each building is accompanied by a synopsis of its history (thanks, in many cases, to Rebecca’s determined sleuthing).

Rebecca, a mum-of-two, who works for a pharmaceutical company by day, explains how her obsession for old, crumbling, derelict and forgotten buildings came about.

“Over a decade ago I was in a paranormal group, I was the team photographer and location finder. We would try and find haunted locations and sit up late at night and try and get any sort of evidence through audio or video.

"This was taking us to castles and hotels and there was one house that I found called Cairndhu House in Larne.

"At that stage it was abandoned and dilapidated, but not to the extent that it is now. I couldn’t believe that we had something like this in Northern Ireland; it was like something out of a horror movie – it was very gothic and unique in the architecture.

"I set about trying to find the owner, who at the time was a property developer. He gave us a set of keys to come and go. Over a couple of months we were in there quite regularly trying to get evidence of anything paranormal. But I also wanted to find out more about the history of the house – who lived there, what went on in the house before it was abandoned.

"I found out it was owned by Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon. They loved to entertain and it had been used as a war supply depot as well. Princess Margaret came for lunch in it when she was doing a tour (of NI).

"They (the Dixons) donated the house to the Hospital Trust, then it was a convalescence home until the late 1980s, then due to lack of funding it was abandoned.”

Rebecca was hooked more by the history of the place, than any ghostly goings-on.

She left the paranormal group, focused on photographing abandoned buildings and started a Facebook page, Abandoned N.I, which now has almost 50,000 followers – a clear indicator of how these images exert such a hold on the collective imagination.

"The more I started to post photographs of places, the more people would comment on them. It was nostalgia for people.”

Abandoned Ireland is a visually stunning book with images that are bleakly beautifully, eliciting goosebumps, nostalgia and wonder, for there is something compelling about decaying buildings, particularly ones that were once magnificent - the grandeur still apparent amongst the decay and cobwebs, like Miss Havisham’s house.

Rebecca traces her passion for photography back to when she was 12 and won a camera on a TV show called Sussed.

“From then I took an interest in cameras and always had one."

Ironically, for one so immersed in photography she does not like to put herself in front of the lens; for her it’s all about her subjects.

And the equipment she uses to capture her evocative images is nothing particularly fancy, but her instincts are remarkable.

“I use a SLR and a tripod. I travel light. I have a drone now as well, which gives you that extra perspective of the buildings from above which is really nice.

"It’s not the equipment, it’s how you see the image that you want to produce.”

Seeing her book on bookshelves across Ireland is, she says, “really surreal”.

“It just doesn’t feel like it’s my book – even though, obviously, I know everything about it. I think it will just take time to sink in, but I am really happy with it.”

Rebecca has taken thousands and thousands of images, but had to whittle her immense catalogue down to just 150 for the book.

"I picked the ones with the most history,” she says of her Herculean task.

And she selected her favourites, like Dessie’s, a cottage in Cookstown.

Each building has been given a new name, and the photograph of Dessie’s is entitled ‘Country Living’.

“It’s the small cottages that have the rich family history – those are the ones that I really like.

"As soon as I walked in the door I was just blown away. It was like something out of the Folk Park.

"The history that we uncovered was unbelievable. We found certificates from the 1800s, there were newspapers from 1911, there was Victorian-era clothing, old money, big trunks full of love letters.

"Dessie’s really made an impact and I do wish I had met him.”

Edendork Dance Hall, Co Tyrone, (titled ‘The last dance) is another impactful image and a place which captured her imagination.

“There’s no other ceiling like that that I’ve come across to date. In the whole island of Ireland I have never seen one like that, so it’s very unique, even though the building’s not that old.”

Rebecca gives talks about her photographs, something she really enjoys.

"I love getting up and talking about them. You get chatting to people afterwards and they tell you of new places or somewhere they own.”

She has also appeared on a number of local television shows.

"I would love to have my own TV show, because there is such an interest in abandonded buildings.

"Everyone wants to know who lived in that abandoned house and once you tell them the history they are amazed.”

Of course, old buildings can be creepy, and Rebecca’s had a fair few eerie experiences.

“I find when you go into these places, when you’re not looking for it, then things do happen.

“There was an adventure centre in Co Meath called Tain Adventure Centre. I visited it about eight years ago and there’s a dormitory section.

"I had known it had been a convent before it had been an adventure centre – you can see the figurines outside and there’s a big bell tower.

“There was a dormitory and corridor and on either side there was bedrooms and inside old bunk beds.

“My sister was with me and she was filming on an iPad. There was no one else in the corridor or building but us, and I get to the end door, open it and we both heard a voice that sounds like it’s beside us.

"She recorded it and you could hear it faintly. At home we played it over the computer with headphones, it’s a male voice and it says ‘You are crazy!’

“Whenever I was doing one of my talks in Belfast I played the video and people could hear it. A girl in the audience said the building wasn’t a convent, it was a priest’s training college. I couldn’t understand why the voice had an Ulster accent, but it turned out the priests from Belfast used to go down and train in that college.”

Something like that would put most people off old spooky buildings, but not Rebecca.

“This is a lifelong project for me. It’s not something I get bored with.

"As long as I can do it, I will be doing it.”

*Abandoned Ireland, published by Merrion Press, is priced £24.99 and available in all good bookshops and Amazon.