About Us

Our History

In the early 1970s, as Tallaght was still a small Dublin suburb of around 5,000 people, a few keen amateur photographers began meeting in a local school hall. Among them was Seán Burke, who taught a beginner’s photography course and experimented with creative methods like cibachrome slide prints and transferring images onto plates. Together with Denis, Colm and Declan Corrigan, Lorcan Farrell, George Hayes, Harry Coyle and Eddie Devere, they formalised their group—along with encouragement from local priest Fr. Len Perrim—and in 1974 the Tallaght Photographic Society was officially founded.

Over the years, the Society gained a strong reputation nationally. Their monochrome work won major titles and several members became professional photographers: Vincent O’Byrne achieved Master QEP status, Podge Kelly hosted the TV show Digital Photography, and Michael Finn earned multiple Kodak Awards and accolades from the Irish Professional Photographers Association.

By the early 1980s the Club had its own premises—including a studio and darkroom—and in 1980 launched its first International Salon of Photographic Art, which has grown into Ireland’s largest competition of its kind, drawing thousands of entries from dozens of countries annually. Despite a fire that destroyed their premises in 2009, the society continued meeting—first at the Maldron Hotel in Tallaght and, since 2023, at Firhouse Community & Leisure Centre—with membership now well over 55 and still growing.

Today, TPS hosts weekly meetings, workshops, guest-speaker evenings, competitions and outings. It remains committed to promoting photographic skills locally, nationally and internationally, and welcomes photographers of all levels.