Treasure trove of old photos brin

THERE are occasions in life when you get the feeling that a greater force is at work when creating one of life’s enigmatic coincidences.

One such incident took place last week and involved two former Dundalk players, John Archbold and Brian Duff and one of the town’s best known photographers, the late Kevin McArdle.

Kevin who lived in Patrick Street and worked extensively for the ‘Argus’ from a small dark room at the rear of his home.

He covered a wide variety of news, social and sporting events for the ‘Argus’ and his eye for a picture was exceptional.

When Kevin died well over 20 years ago many, like myself, wondered what would become of the extensively library of film negatives that he assiduously chronicled and stored.

Their fate remained a mystery until recently when renovations were carried out to his home after the death of his wife, Mairead who had lovingly preserved them.

Their value, in terms of their unique record in the life of the town, was unknown, and in any case black and white negatives seemed of little use in this digital age.

They were therefore assigned to the builders skip when, by a circuitous and fortunate route they came into my hands.

That was only in the last week, and on Friday last, I managed to process onto a computer a number of the strips of film.

One such strip contained a record of a pre match assignment that Kevin undertook for the ‘Argus’ to promote the upcoming European Cup Winners tie between Dundalk and Tottenham Hotspur in Oriel Park on October 21st, 1981.

Contained in the roll of film were pictures of the Dundalk players talking to manager, Jim McLaughlin prior to the match. Two of the pictures included John Archbold and Brian Duff.

Imagine my sense of surprise when I walked into Kennedy’s on Friday night for a pre-match drink to settle the nerves when I was approached by a keen Dundalk fan pointing out two people at the other end of the bar, John Archbold and Brian Duff.

Neither are regular visitors