ANTHONY RUSH: ‘OF OTHER SPACES’
«The Photographs that form the body of work “of other spaces” place the personal within a much wider political and historical context. The particular area of interest in this series of photograph’s is the joint and now former military barracks of Lisanelly and St Lucia in Omagh. The Barracks has been a major installation in the market town of Omagh since its original commission in the 1880’s, and the 170 acre site has remained largely untouched since it was decommissioned in 2007 as one of the conditions of the Northern Ireland peace process.
As the grandson of a former soldier, who, spent much of his life living and working in the barracks, I have always felt connected to the place although I have never been sure whether this was in some way a sense of belonging or just curiosity. Because access to it was limited in the years of “ the troubles”. It always felt somehow unreal but promising and the need to see and experience it has always been very strong.
I grew up a son of Laurence and Elizabeth, a brother to Siobhan and Andrew. I was the middle child, Anthony, named, in memory of my Fathers brother who, at 18 months old died in an accident within the Barracks. My Grandfather, a Catholic from Drogheda, in what is now the Republic of Ireland, joined the British Army when he was, as far as I know, 14 years of age ,he went on to have a distinguished career in the Inniskillin Fusiliers, receiving the Military cross as a result of his bravery during World War 2. After the war, in recognition of his service, he and his family were posted to Jamaica and lived there for a number of years.They then moved back to Omagh Barracks where for some time his family remained.He left the British Army sometime in the 1970’s and opted, for a short time, for civilian life which included a new job and a move to a new town. However, unable to conform to “civvy” life, he returned to Army service joining the much maligned UDR, which was formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack. The regiment was intended to be nonpartisan, and it began with Catholic recruits accounting for 18% of membership. However, in time suspicion and disenchantment among the Catholic community grew, and Catholic membership settled at around 3%. My own family meanwhile moved to a house that was within sight of St Lucia Barracks, the subject of much of this body of work.
These photographs and this project takes on a number of roles, on the one hand its becomes a repository of narratives of powerful experiences that preceded my birth, and like my own strong feelings towards events of the past, help transmit and somehow constitute memories in their own right.
They are a way of reclaiming and understanding a past that, although I was not present in it, I nevertheless feel inextricably bound to. On a wider context these images are also about coming to terms with the past, for a former garrison town whose identity has undoubtedly changed, it raises questions about the past, about history, about community, colonization, conflict, remembering, and how that affects the future for the people of the area».
© All copyright Anthony Rush