John Boorman once said: âMovie-making is the process of turning money into light.â The publishers of Old Ireland in Colour have discovered that turning black and white photographs into colour is a surefire moneyspinner. It is the only book to have made more than â¬1 million in Ireland last year.
The practice of colourising black and white photographs may be controversial but there is no doubting its popularity. Old Ireland in Colour by John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley, published by Merrion Press, sold 48,475 copies, earning almost â¬1.14 million.
Champagne Football by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan (Sandycove) was Irelandâs best-selling Irish-published book last year with 49,307 copies sold. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy (Ebury Press) was Irelandâs overall best-selling book with 67,926 copies sold in total, just ahead of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.