From Irish Working Lives:  "I have learned a very simple truth about the necessity to live and to take care of ourselves and each other. Captains of industry, or wealthy men, or people of social status who have done great deeds, or those who are well known and celebrated, or tramps on the street who have nothing, when they are dead, are all the same. Imagine that. All the same. It’s the only job in the world where that is a guarantee. It is very enlightening; freeing in fact. The dead have taught me that we are fragile creatures and nobody ever knows what is around the corner. Sometimes we do not respect life, and we take our happiness, our freedom and our health for granted. We should be more observant of our own lives. Saying goodbye to the dead is not the same as saying goodbye. We must love people in the living years. That is what the dead have taught me."  Joe Cronin, embalmer      

 

Work accounts for so much of our waking lives, yet we rarely reflect upon or celebrate the contribution of those whose vocations and careers are the bedrock of a thriving society. As a broadcaster, Marie Louise has had the privilege of spending ‘work time’ and ‘thought time’ with a broad array of individuals across Ireland, gaining a unique insight into the practicalities of their particular occupation and learning about what inspires or motivates them in their chosen field.  Irish Working Lives is the story of the encounters  - by turns candid and lyrical - that illuminate the ways in which these individuals perceive their chosen occupation, its day-to-day demands and the inextricable relationship between work life and spiritual life.  

 

In these impassioned, remarkably diverse vignettes, Marie Louise relates her travels across the length and breadth of the country, engaging with a selection of committed Irish men and women whose work forms the lifeblood of our island nation.   Whether spending a day on the road with a postman in Co Wicklow or meeting the Galway gardener who has used her own experience of personal tragedy to help others heal, Marie Louise’s assiduity and innate curiosity enlivens each and every encounter.    

 

Alongside each testimony, award-winning photographer Eric Luke’s stunning images explore each contributor’s relationship with their trade or calling and are a wonderful complement to Marie Louise’s evocative prose.