This photo was taken in the late 19th century, probably by Robert French, chief photographer of William Lawrence Photographic Studios of Dublin. It's especially rich in beautiful ghostly figures, and if I'm reading the church clock correctly, this photo was taken at 10:15. G.W.V. Whitcroft's 1990 companion image was taken at 10:30

Compare this view of Lurgan with its companion photo taken by photographer G.W.V. Whitcroft (approximately 100 years later) as part of the Lawrence Photographic Project 1990/1991, where one thousand photographs from the Lawrence Collection in the National Library of Ireland were replicated a hundred years later by a team of volunteer photographers, thereby creating a record of the changing face of the selected locations all over Ireland.

For further information on the Lawrence Photographic Project, read all about it on our NLI Blog.

Niall McAuley has contributed this spectacular bird's eye view from Bing, and thanks to Niall's dating work (see his comments below), we can definitely say this photo was taken after 1865 and before 1896! Niall did some more work on dating and says: "Not conclusive, but the 1865 directory lists 4 businesses on Middle Row, the 1877 Lennon Wylie link lists two, and the 1880 Lurgan Ancestry link lists none. I think most of Middle Row was vacant/demolished in 1880.

The buildings to the left look in poor shape here, you can see the outline of a demolished house on the gable of the farthest house. I think this photo is in the middle of the Town Commisioners efforts to get rid of Middle Row, maybe1879?"

Date: Circa 1879