Most people recognize this photo as one of the most iconic images taken during the Great Depression. Known as “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper,” it depicts eleven construction workers taking a lunch break from building part of the Rockefeller Center complex (in this case, the RCA building) while sitting on a steel beam 850 feet (the 69th floor) above the New York skyline. Published by the New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932, it was attributed to noted photographer, Charles E. Ebbets.
During the Depression, this construction project employed over 40,000 folks (mostly Irish emigrants) to perform the various tasks required, making it the second largest employer in the country, after the U.S.Government’s Work Projects Administration (WPA).
One of the legends about this picture was that it was a somewhat staged publicity stunt. The construction company hired a number of well known photographers (including Ebbets) to chronicle the building of this structure. Ebbets apparently saw these men eating their lunches on the beam and thought it would make a great picture. After he had set up his camera and turned around, the men were leaving. He had to gather them back up, pose them again, and take the photo.
During the Depression, this construction project employed over 40,000 folks (mostly Irish emigrants) to perform the various tasks required, making it the second largest employer in the country, after the U.S.Government’s Work Projects Administration (WPA).
One of the legends about this picture was that it was a somewhat staged publicity stunt. The construction company hired a number of well known photographers (including Ebbets) to chronicle the building of this structure. Ebbets apparently saw these men eating their lunches on the beam and thought it would make a great picture. After he had set up his camera and turned around, the men were leaving. He had to gather them back up, pose them again, and take the photo.
This follow-up photo of the men waving, has been rarely seen...
...as had this one of them apparently napping.
Ebbets and his fellow photographers had to be as daring as the construction workers in order to get their pictures.
So, what is the connection between the “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper” photograph and our travels to Galway? Ten of these construction workers pictured were Irish emigrants (the 11th being a Mohawk Native American). Of these ten Irishmen, the ones on both ends of the line were Lori’s great uncles. The gentleman on the far right, with the bottle, is Patrick “Sonny” Glynn, and the one on the far left (with the cigarette) is Matty O’Shaughnessy. Glynn and O’Shaughnessy were brothers-in-law to each other and from adjoining farms in the tiny village of Shanaglish, county Galway. They emigrated to New York in the early 1920’s.
While discussing the photo with Lori’s cousin, Pat Glynn (son of the man with the bottle), we learned that a copy was hanging in a pub in the village of Shanaglish with a notation stating “Local lads made good in New York City ” Since we were in Galway, finding the pub in Shanaglish would be a possibility . As it happened, two days into our visit, while having breakfast in the Revive Cafe of Galway City, we met a woman and her adult daughter who were familiar with the area. The daughter stated she had a friend that ran a pub in Shanaglish and felt this friend could tell us where in the village, the pub was located. Calling her friend up immediately, the daughter informed us that the picture was in the friend’s pub - Whelen’s Pub - and she was looking at it that very moment. What a coincidence!
After doing some research on how to get to Shanaglish, a few days later, we were on a bus to the town of Gort (the closest bus stop to the village) and then hired a taxi to take us the five miles to Whelen’s pub. Now, our previous experiences with “small” villages around the world, led us to believe Shanaglish would include the pub, perhaps a general store/post office combination, a church, and a few other commercial properties.
Gort city center, the nearest bus stop to Shanaglish.
When we arrived in Shanaglish, what a surprise we got! This village was just a wide space in the road, with only the pub on it, a few residential properties, and a church down the street (and the pub was not open as their opening time was 5:00 pm.
Our destination, Shanaglish’s Whelen’s pub.
Fortune was again smiling upon us, as Lori was able to find a neighbor, who called the pub’s owner to get permission to retrieve a key and let us in, so we could take pictures. Additionally, the taxi driver was willing to wait around to bring us back to Gort and not strand us in the village. While it would have been nice to be in the pub while it was open and interact with folks who might have known Lori’s great uncles, it was a joy to at least get into the pub and take our own photos.
Inside Whelen’s pub, built in 1865.
We wanted to visit Whelen’s Pub in order to see this photo.
Above this picture is a note from Lori’s cousin, Pat Glynn , identifying “Sonny” Glynn and Matty O’Shaughnessy. We realize the printing is small and hard to read. If your device allows it , zoom in on the printing to enlarge it.
An additional interesting fact about the photo at the top of this posting is that we found it (billboard size) in an alley in Istanbul, Turkey (if you look closely, you will notice a chair and a broom that belonged to a restaurant across the alley, as well as the edges of a door passing through the face of Sonny Glynn - the man with the bottle - which gives some perspective how huge this photo was).
During the early summer (May/June) of 2018, National Graphic put out an issue chronicling Depression era construction in New York City. As part of that issue, National Geographic presented an article on the “Lunch Atop A Skyscraper” photo in which they identified Lori’s great uncles.
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