Father Francis Browne, S.J. (Irish, 1880–1960) – “Full Speed Ahead for… ,” RMS Titanic Leaving Queenstown (Cobh), County Cork, April 1912. © Fr Browne SJ Collection / Davison & Associates Ltd
The first major US exhibition of the work of Father Browne opens today at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at Notre Dame University in Indiana, formerly the Snite Museum. The exhibition Through the Lens of Fr. Francis Browne SJ: The Photographic Adventures of an Irish Priest will run until December 1. His work documents Ireland’s involvement in some of the most memorable events of his era.
In April 1912, Browne received a gift of a ticket for the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. He took his camera along on the journey from Southampton, England, to Cherbourg, France, then to Cobh, County Cork. Browne debarked in Ireland before the Titanic sailed to disaster in the North Atlantic. Afterwards, his photographs of the liner, her passengers, and crew appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide. After his ordination in 1915, Browne became a chaplain in the Irish Guards. He worked in France and Flanders for the entirety of World War I, and was allowed to carry his camera with him. Often on the front lines, ministering to the wounded and the dead, he was wounded five times. After the war, the Church sent Browne to Australia to recuperate from the effects of poison gas. He photographed his travels to the other side of the world and back to Ireland. In 1925 he became Superior of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Dublin. Over the balance of his career, he traveled extensively in Ireland and England to preach at Jesuit gatherings, missions, and retreats. He also pursued his hobby of observing the rapidly changing life across Ireland.
