Born in Cork in 1880, Frank Browne came from a prominent family in that city. His grandfather, James Hegarty, was Lord Mayor, and his uncle, Robert Browne, was Bishop of Cloyne for 41 years. His schooldays were spent at Christian Brothers’ College, Cork, the Bower Convent, Athlone, Belvedere College , Dublin, and Castleknock College, Dublin. When Frank left school in 1897 he set out on a Grand Tour of Europe. The resultant images were the first shots in a salvo of photographic activity that would still be reverberating 100 years later.

From 1911 to 1916, Frank Browne studied Theology at Milltown Park in Dublin. It was during this period that his Uncle Robert (the Bishop of Cloyne) sent him an unusual present: a ticket for the first legs of the maiden voyage of the Titanic, sailing from Southampton to Cherbourg and then on to Queenstown (Cobh), Co Cork, Ireland.

While on board, an American millionaire offered to pay his way for the rest of the voyage to New York. On being apprised of this suggestion, Frank's Jesuit Superior cabled Queenstown saying, succinctly,“GET OFF THAT SHIP---PROVINCIAL”.

Father Browne's great collection of negatives lay forgotten for 25 years after his death. It was by chance in 1986 that Father E. E. O’Donnell SJ discovered this amazing collection in a large metal trunk. Father O’Donnell brought the negatives to the attention of the features editor of the London Sunday Times who dubbed them “the photographic equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls”.

In all he made some 41,632 negatives. His interests were broad, resulting in his capturing a unique view into the industrial, agricultural, religious, commercial and social elements of an Ireland developing its own post independence identity.

There are several means by which this work can be assessed. Many of the pictures are quaintly nostalgic, evoking personal or received recollections of a different world. The social/documentary value may be deemed more significant than nostalgia.

There is a deeper element within these pictures; their structure and timing capture something of the experience of the moment. They grip the imagination and convey atmosphere and mood, communicating feelings both pleasing and sometimes questioning. The viewer is challenged to engage in thought, to seek further meaning; surely at this point we are confronted with truly artistically expressive material.