The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks: People and Places of Ireland’s Highest Mountain Range

by award-winning photographer Valerie O’Sullivan, published by The Collins Press.

The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks had been listed for a number of years on The Collins Press’s publication list but for many reasons it had never come to fruition. Con Collins, publisher at The Collins Press, contacted Dingle Publishing to work together with the award-winning author and photographer Valerie O’Sullivan to bring this wonderful and important book, recording the people and places of Ireland’s highest mountain, to publication. Not only did we compile the materials in less than six months, we had a wonderful time with Valerie doing just that, and worked with her on many projects thereafter. The book, which had been at a standstill for nearly four years, was published within the year to critical acclaim, listed by the Irish Times as one of the Photobooks of 2016.

“In her new book of photographs, Valerie O’Sullivan gets close up and personal with MacGillycuddy’s Reeks in all their ancient, wrinkled, weathered glory, capturing the peaks in many different moods: sugared with snow, shrouded in fog, smothered by clouds… For every photograph of a mountaineer atop a summit, there must be a photographer even higher up – carrying her own weight in cameras and equipment into the bargain… she celebrates traditional activities, from hill farming to the annual Gap of Dunloe horse fair, from the annual St Brigid’s Day outbreak of anarchy known as “the Biddies” to regular pub sessions and children doing sean nós dancing. People look happy in O’Sullivan’s pictures – which makes it a happy book to read. And perfect for a spot of armchair travelling.
But above all else, it makes you long to get your boots on and get up there.”
Arminta Wallace, Irish Times

“Award-winning Killarney photographer O’Sullivan captures the raw, rugged natural beauty of Ireland’s highest mountain range, and the people who make their lives along this magnificent stretch of 19km, in The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. A stirring celebration of sublime nature and the colourful diversity of human society.”
Darragh McManus, Irish Independent

“capture[s] the magnificence of Ireland’s mountains, showcasing stunning surroundings and intimate portraits of the people who call the slopes home…O’Sullivan’s intimate knowledge of the Reeks is exemplary. Her camera has the patience of a Buddhist monk, the sweep of a drone, and an uncanny ability to find the right shot.”
Dan MacCarthy, Irish Examiner

“Her magnificent new book The MacGillycuddy Reeks: People and Places of Ireland’s Highest Mountain Range….a resounding thumbs up from its first readers….It’s the people, as much as the landscape, that make The Reeks such a joy to behold …Photography is the beauty of life captured. This is what Valerie has achieved…the first real comprehensive account of life in the high land of Kerry.”
The Kerryman