INCREDIBLE colour photographs of some of the first emigrants to Ellis Island have been brought to life by an Irish artist.
Ellis Island in New York was the gateway for over 12million immigrants to the United States as the busiest immigrant inspection station for over 60 years from 1892 until 1954.
The photographs, originally shot by Lewis Hine but retained by the New York Public Library were colourised by Matt Loughrey of My Colorful Past in Westport, Co. Mayo.
One of the photographs in the series shows the first immigrant to pass through the famous Ellis Island immigration station, an Irish woman named Annie Moore, aged 17, from Co. Cork, who came to America in 1892 with her two brothers to reunite with her parents who had emigrated some years previously.
Speaking to The Irish Post, artist Matt Loughrey said it seemed "relevant" to release the images at a time when immigration is at the forefront of recent conversation.
"Immigration has always been a topic not too far from discussion in any given territory," he said.
"At this time the topic is rather magnified in the U.S and perhaps politically, it seemed like a very relevant time to create a visual message through colorising some of the very people that both made and continue to make America great."
You can see more from Matt Loughrey and My Colorful Past here.
Check out some of the colourised images below...
Annie Moore, Irish woman and first immigrant into the US in 1892 at the then newly-opened Ellis Island immigration station
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Pulic Library)A German Stowaway, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)A Finnish Stowaway, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)A Syrian woman, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)A Romanian Shepherd, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)An Armenian Jewish man, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)A Czechoslovakian grandmother, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)An Albanian woman, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)A young Italian girl finds her first penny in America, 1926
(Picture: Matt Loughrey/New York Public Library)