[Leica] IMGs: Sailor Boy and Sailor Man

[imra at iol.ie (Douglas Barry)]

My father Louis Barry made his first communion in 1916 and was decked 
out in a sailor suit which was apt as he was never far from the sea 
being a competitive swimmer and diver. As you can see this is part of an 
image taken of a school group by someone with a large format camera, 
just look at the hand on his shoulder.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+1st+Communion+1916+sml.jpg.html

Then again, as it's a little girl's hand, perhaps it was just his 
companion at the altar, as with first communions, boys and girls of 
different schools were paired up. I never found out the back story, but 
I remember the girl who walked up the aisle with me on the occasion of 
my own communion. Her name was Catherine and we were both in the same 
class at the local convent. She was the daughter of TK Whitaker who 
propelled Ireland into the modern age 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._K._Whitaker Although her father lived 
to be 100, sadly Catherine died in her 40s.

My father obviously liked sailor suits as, after he was expelled from 
his second school, his father packed him off to Cardiff as a cadet in 
the British merchant navy. He got a chance to wear this one from the age 
of 16 and did seven laps of the globe at 11 knots with various ships the 
Reardon Smith Line.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Louis+in+officer_s+uniform+sml.jpg.html
 


I'm glad I didn't choose a sailor suit for my first communion...

Douglas