Well, that's what is stamped on the back. Almost certainly Thomas McConnell, a commercial photographer who had a studio on Market Square in 1901. And that's it. A few family details, but beyond that, nothing. Letterkenny is town in County Donegal, Ireland. Republic of, not Northern. It's called the Cathedral Town, home of St. Eunan's Cathedral, all on the River Swilly. What can I say, photographs travel. I bought this CDV in the Los Angeles area, just like the previous post.
Since my last post was from 2026, I thought I'd go back to the 19th century, just for a bit of contrast. The Abernethy credited as the photographer on the carte de visite, is almost certainly William Abernethy, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1864, died 1930. He opened his first studio in 1886 at the age of 22. He was very successful and eventually employed a large staff and opened a number of branch studios in the area. In an advertisement from 1895 he claimed that his studios photographed 18,000 portraits in the previous year. And lest we forget, that's some wild head of hair.
