Gods Country, Donegal

Last of the trip around Donegal.

Donegal, the forgotten County, Gods County

Donegal is known as both above, it only is connected along 20km of its border with another Irish County, most of its border is with Northern Ireland, geographically it is so far north also that tourists do not often go there. The locals call it Gods country, it is a beautiful mountainous landscape and is one of Irelands best kept secrets.
Today along with the changing scenery were changes in weather where mountains were mystically shrouded in the mist.
Again like before these pictures were taken while on the move so quality is not always the best.

Sligo Mountains

you will have to forgive the quality as these shots were taken at 50kmph(30mph) as we could not stop.

Full Moon Galway

"A song of you,Comes as sweet and clear,As moonlight through the pines" Ray Charles

Irish Summer Weather

I came home after a week away and the weather changed suddenly from sunny and for about 30 minutes we had some of the heaviest rain I have seen in a long time, the month of June was the warmest in years but also had the coldest day recorded in Ireland. July has started similar and there was flooding, especially bad in Dublin


Then all of a sudden....

Then later we were treated to this scene

Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

Carlingford lough, County louth

Monasterboice, Co Louth

Monasterboice is a famous 14th century Christian settlement, it is more famous for its collection of Celtic high crosses. High Crosses originated in Ireland and were brought to Scotland , England and to mainland Europe by Irish Monks. This is regarded as the finest collection and contains Muiredachs which at 5.5metres is regarded as having the finest example of carvings of this religious art form.
This round tower was built in the 10th Century and though there is argument on purpose of design it is generally thought that it served as a bell tower and a place of refuge from the Vikings. The doorway was usually well above ground, this one was too but layers of soil have built up over the years to lower this door. Round towers are predominantly Irish, tho' there are 3 in Scotland and one in the Isle of Man, another example of one I have posted is here, is in Galway.



Muiredachs Cross, with the tower in the background

Canal Dublin City

Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal
Pouring redemption for me, that I do
The will of God, wallow in the habitual, the banal,
Grow with nature again as before I grew. Patrick Kavanagh

Ice cabin Lismore, Co Waterford.

I know that I have posted pictures of Lismore a few times that is why I never put up these. I was walking along the road from the bridge towards the Golf club when I noticed this curious building on the side of the road
There was not much in the front part but I noticed that the were windows to something so I wandered thro the thicket and saw this gate I could not see much.
However the Flash from my camera highlighted a room with a passage.
This led to another gate hidden in the bushes and again it was dark inside but there appeared to be a void.
putting the camera thro the bars of the door and as you can see there was a this circular pit with a ladder. I imagined if I was a kid and I came across this what it would be, a dungeon for prisoners from the castle across the road, but I found out in the guest house that it was only an ice house.

Ireland Sunset

Evening sky Galway

Nice view to have a cup of coffee outside after a days work

Light at the end of the road

Dungannon, County Tyrone

Tyrone Cattle,

As per a request to post the tenth photo from my first folder and tell the story by a nuisance. I don't have my laptop with me and the only folder I had was from my SD card.
As the header this site says my job takes me all over Ireland, this week I am in Tyrone in Northern Ireland. When I have time I take pictures of scenery or whatever catches my eye, however I have not had much of a chance to get many pictures this week as I have been kept busy. This was taken today as I was parked today on the side of the road sipping bad coffee, looking at a traffic tail-back(caused by me). Something about this scene beside me caught my eye, I am not sure if I was going to post this, I think its missing something like an old man looking wistfully into the distance chewing a blade of grass. But my obligation has been fulfilled and a picture that would not have seen the light of day got posted!

Killimorday house, Co Galway

Dirt Track Tyrone.

This is the only picture I had time to take in Tyrone, where I was working I stopped by this dirt track to have a coffee. There is some fantastic scenery in this area hopefully I will get some pics this week when I am back.

Cong Abbey, Co Mayo.

This is a little fishing hut where the monks used to fish, the water flows underneath so they would not get cold in the winter.

A view through the trees

Another view through the trees

a view of the old cloisters
a view of the old church across the way from the abbey
the gable against the sunlight
An old Irish high cross with the abbey in the background

Sutton Dublin

These shots are panorama shots combining 3 pictures*, all are taken from Sutton in Dublin. The first is taken looking north to Howth head one of the most expensive areas in Ireland to own a house, middle is a view of Dublin bay, last is looking south towards Marino in Dublin



*These were taken with my phone, sorry for the quality, you might have to open them to get a better view.

Clonbur, Connemara, Co Galway

Cornamona, Connemara, Co Galway

Small towns and built up places, Ireland

Someone teased me that I take pictures only of old buildings and country side, there is not that much architecture in most of Ireland besides old buildings, All towns look somewhat similar, there are differences but mostly the streets are similar with older two and three story buildings with shops at the bass that takes away the character.
The title is part of an Irish expression, used jokingly in answer to some unusual story, 'Sure what would you expect in small towns and built up areas'
The first picture is an example of a main street in an Irish town, there is a square at the end of this street, some are wider, some have green areas.

A street in a village on a rural road

A street in village on a national secondary route.

These pictures where taken through a windscreen which is why the quality is so bad.

MAAM Connemara, Co, Galway

Summer Galway city

One of the most iconic sites in Galway city is the fountain in Eyre Square, it is designed to look like the sails of a Galway Hooker. It gets its name from the Irish 'húicéir' and is unique to Galway bay, designed specifically for the sea conditions here. This used to be more of a traditional fountain but because of the habit of drunken people putting washing powder in the fountain they changed the base of the fountain during the revamp of Eyre Square.
A view of the Corrib from Wolfe Tone bridge looking towards the Cathedral. On the left before the bridge is the old Bridge Mills, you can see the mill run and if you dined in the restaurant on the ground floor you can see the workings of the old mill today.

The large building in the centre is the Cathedral finished in the 1960's, it was built on the site of the old Galway prison (where a relation of my ancestors was sent a long time ago, but at that time you could get deported to Australia for stealing vegetables to feed your family).

I loved this old boat when I saw it and it shows of the 'Long Walk' area of the docks in the background of the picture, the facade of the buildings has change little over the years but there are some apartment buildings that managed to spring up around them

Volvo Ocean race, Galway

Galway won a bid to hold one of the Legs of the Volvo Ocean race, this was a huge thing for Ireland and was even bigger for Galway, we have a number of festivals in Galway during in the summer, Arts festival, Galway Races(horse) that bring thousands into the city during the summer so the tourist board was not sure that they could get even more people to come. The turnout for the ocean race was bigger than expected, there were thousands of people out on the docks to welcome in the boats at 4am after they sailed from Boston and there has been a carnival atmosphere in Galway since.  below are some pics of my day wandering around

A view of the masts of the ships in the Volvo Ocean race against the sky.

If you thought the second one looked  different then it was this guy on top of the mast.

The boats docked

One of the boats coming into the dock after racing, the sails are down coming in, they use engines to travel in the docks.

One of the boats inside the dock area

The boats about to set off on the days racing, today there were pro-am racing where half the team was made up of amateur sailors from Ireland, the boat with the green sail is the Green dragon the Irish boat, its made in China hence the name.

Another shot of the boats racing, we didn't get near enough to get a great shot.


The Spanish Arch in Galways Latin Quarter one of 4 arches dating back to the 1580's 

Another shot near the Spanish Arch, this old building is now an award winning restaurant.

The Green dragon in Eyre Square

Another view of the Green dragon looking down Eyre Square

A Galway hooker, a traditional sailing boat sailed in galway joins in the fun
A view of the bay with all the small sailing boats in the bay today

The Galway hooker comes into dock

Some strange Galway

Today there was something weird up in the sky, there was a lot of blue where the grey skies should be and there was a bright object that was very hot and hard to look at. I think I remember seeing these things before but am not sure as it seems so long ago. :P

Fields of Athenry, Co Galway

made famous by the song that is sung on the terraces of Parkhead(Celtic)and Anfield road(Liverpool).
Apologies for the quality but I had no camera with me, someone will not be pleased.

Connemara Landscapes 3, Co Galway

These are the last of this series. There will be more in the future because these do not do justice to the beautiful scenery.






Maybe a twelvemonth since suddenly I began,
In scorn of this audience, Imagining a man,
And his sun-freckled face, And grey Connemara cloth,
Climbing up to a place where stone is dark under froth,
And the down-turn of his wrist when flies drop in the stream;
A man who does not exist, A man who is but a dream;
And cried, "Before I am old I shall have written him one
Poem maybe as cold And passionate as the dawn."
WB Yeats

One Misty Moisty Morning, Galway Ireland

Today I was spotted this horse hiding under the tree as I was on my way to the office,this was taken with my phone as I did not have my camera with me.

Later when I was passing back along the road the mist had stopped and the horse decided to venture out, but not to far away from the shelter.

Connemara Landscapes 2, Co Galway

More of Shots from Connemara

Connemara Landscapes 1, Co Galway

Connemara not only one of the few Gaeltachts (Irish speaking areas)left in Ireland it also has a wilder beautiful landscape.

This first picture is on the border and is greener.

Changeable Scenery along the road, Galway

This morning was an overcast morning, near Galway Airport a lot of forestry and stone walls.


The mist has disappeared and moving further along the road to the bog lands on the Kiltullagh/New Inn border. The speckled white in the foreground is bog cotton(Scirpus caespitosus).


Here Cappataggle the land has improved a bit a lot of rushes and a lot of sheep.


Behind the village of Aughrim, more famous for the Battle of Aughrim 1691 where the Jacobite Army(Irish and French) was beaten by the Williamite army made up of Dutch, English, Scottish, Danish and French(Huguenot), more people lost their lives here than any other single battle. This effectively ended and Catholic resistance in Ireland. The land is getting better and Cattle start to appear.

Sunset Galway

Boreens and backroads

This is a video of 2 boreens in Killimorday today I was in too much of a hurry to take pics I hope you enjoy, the music is Rodrigo y Gabriela a Mexican guitar duo who lived for a time in Ireland.

sorry about the Quality not sure what happened when I uploaded to Youtube

Cloonshecahill 2008

This pic was taken last year of the same bush around the same time of year

Cloonshecahill 11th May

Sundown Galway

Train ride Killimordaly

Today I had to get a train from Dublin and when I got to Killimordaly I was on the internet and I remembered a post a friend had, it gave me the idea for this post.

The music is Altan very Oirish but the music sort of suits.

'All in a summer day', Killimordaly

There was a film made in the 80's that I have mentioned before called 'All in a summer day'. The film was a sci-fi based on Venus where it rains constantly, but every 7 years the Sun shines for 15 minutes, sometimes Ireland can feel like that too. This evening for a few minutes the Sun nearly came out for 2 minutes and I remembered the film.
The first two show the grey sky and overcast sky.


This last one was shot using same settings on camera, when the sun made a bold attempt too appear.

Stream, Killimordaly. Co Galway

This stream that runs beside the church and Graveyard in Killimordaly. These were taken by phone so the quality is not great and it was a miserable day

Old Big House, Durrow, Co Laois

Shannon River, Athlone.

The Shannon is the longest River In Ireland, almost 390Km in length and derives its name from the Goddess Siona. These were taken in Athlone town, if you look at the last two pics barely visible beside the towers of the church you can see the outline of Athlone Castle.

Sunset Brackloon, Co Galway

Spring, Co Roscomman.

'I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden'..........Dandelions!

Morning Sunshine New Inn, Co Galway

Bog track, Killimordaly

Full Moon, Killimordaly

Grand Canal, County Kildare

Some pictures taken near or on the Grand Canal in County Kildare, you can still see the path for the horses pulling the barges up the Canal.

Clonaslee, County Laois

Furze in Bloom, County Armagh

Dunkellin River, Killimorday, Co. Galway

Road Sculptures, County Meath

Spring Flowers, Dublin City

This posting is for Leisha, who asked about flowers here.
First Heather

Furze in flower

Daisy's

Last but not least is the humble Dandelion which is known more often as 'Pissy beds' this probably comes from the French 'pissenlit', literally piss-a-bed. Legend has it that you will piss your bed if you smell or pick it.

Clohamon, County Wexford

I had to take a detour through here.



The last picture was not cropped but was the only angle I could get this tree from, where I could get the reflection of the tree.

Bridge, Blackwater, county Wexford

I wonder what lies have been told to tourists about this little building beside the bridge.

New Ross harbour at sunset, county Wexford

I had planned to get a shot this morning, but there was a bad fog :(

County Cavan, more lakes and scenery

these were taken near the area of Killeshandra also

Killeshandra, County Cavan

County Cavan, lakes and country side

Sunset St Patricks day

To all a happy St Paddy's Day

Albert Broughton

This music video created by Albert Broughton with music by Albert and pictures from this site, if you like the music you can see more of his videos on his channel http://www.youtube.com/user/AlbertBroughton



these pics used with my permission

Nephin Mountain range , Co Mayo

Pontoon bridge, Co Mayo

I woke up to this foggy view this morning after arriving at night in the dark and it was a lovely surprise. This surrounds the hotel at the bridge.

Irish Sunrises and Sunsets

Athenry Abbey Sunset, Co. Galway

Just after I left the office this was the view I had before I had to drive across the country, nice!

Cloudy Faerie tree Cloonshecahill, Galway

reminded me of a cloud scene from a painting, the reason its cropped so much is there are overhead powerlines that ruin the scene

Moon light thro the trees Galway

Old Farm buildings Armagh

These old buildings were on a back road and probably not seen by many until recently, when the new A1 motorway decided to go by.

Louth, Armagh Border Daybreak.

Snow Ireland

Bridge in Louth at night

I have taken pictures of this bridge taken from a different angle, the lighting is pretty cool.

Castle Ruin Clonboo, Co Galway

this is a ruin of an old Castle in Clonboo, one thing I noticed was that the spiral stairs goes in an anti clockwise direction, this would make it easier to attack by right handed soldiers

Old Irish pub

This is what a real old bar looks like, it was part bar part shop, tea and salt one side of the bar beer and spirits on the other, they sell loose tea in hand wrapped packages tied up with string. This one also comes with the old owner asleep in behind the counter.

Lahinch Sunset

This is just down the road from the cliffs of Moher, the little village has a official population of less than 500 in the Summer with surf and golf this swells to 6000

Galway clouds

There was this fantastic short film made in the 1980's that has stuck with me since I saw it, it was called 'All in a summer day' it was a sci-fi that was set on planet Venus where none of the kids have ever seen a fine day, but every seven years there is 15 minutes of Sun, one girl that moved there from Earth remembers the sun, she gets bullied and locked in a closet on the day the sun appears, all the other kids go outside and run and prance about in the sun forgetting the little girl, she sadly lets the crack of light that makes its way into the closet play across her hand. When it starts to rain and they go back inside they remember her and feel guilty, one throws one of the rare flowers that blooms in the 15 minutes.
On days like today with the rainy Irish weather we get, I am reminded of this film and just wait like this shot for the 15 minutes of sun.

Surreal Cloonshecahill morning

The weather here is a bit stormy and messed up, but just look at the sky this morning!

Galway bay sunset

'Not time nor tide nor water wide
could wean my heart away
But straight and true 'twill fly to you
my own dear Galway Bay' Francis A. Fahy
These pictures were taken between Galway city and Oranmore, the hills in the background are in Clare are the in the burren and there are shots taken from the other side looking back at Galway here and here

Kiltullagh Sunrise, County Galway

This is a Turlough, its like a seasonal flood

Kiltullagh Killimordaly, Sunset

This is the old forge in Kiltullagh where the last blacksmith named Murphy worked his trade it was done up a few years ago under a government scheme, the one below it was taken just down the road. The last one is the Faerie tree in Cloonshecahill.

Outskirts Galway City

This is an old unused lane way on the edge of the city. It does not lead to anywhere and now there seems no point to it. this is characteristic of Galway, the stone walls and small fields. towards the east of the city.

Kilrickle Co. Galway

This ruin of a old big house is on the Kilrickle to Bullaun road, I do not know the history, I just liked the mood of it against the sun.

Hill of Tara, Co Meath

This was the ancient seat of power in Ireland, where the high Kings sat. There are a number of things to see on the hill (I hadn't the time :( ) such as the Stone of Destiny which was the coronation stone of the Kings of Ireland. It is also a place where the ancient Gods of Ireland are said to have dwelt. In the Early 20th century Israelites went there searching for the Arc of the Covenant and new theories published claim it was the capital of the lost nation of Atlantis!
More information can be gotten here.

Daybreak near Tara, Co Meath

Snow, Co Meath

These are not near as fantastic as those posted by someone else, but this is snow in Ireland, it rarely ever lasts and even more seldom stays on the ground.
But it got me out of work and I was able to crash in hotel to witness Obama's inauguration




This was the little snowman that a workmate made for me we tried it on the mirror, before it was placed on the bonnet.

Trees in the Sun, Co Meath

If you saw the last post with the blue sky with different shades of blues and pinks, here there is a difference when the sun popped out for a moment , the weather is very changeable today after storms at the weekend.

Tower of Llyod, Kells, Co. Meath

I have posted this tower before here where you can see the history. but with the stormy weather the sky was more interesting.

Lockes Distillary, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath.

This is the last remaining example of a still pot distillery in Ireland, it ran for 200yrs 1757 to 1957, it was restored in 1982 by the locals as a museum. read the history here.

Free Ireland Poster for 100th post thank you

To whomever reads this, thanks for stopping by since October, this was set up as a little project for personal reasons and was hoping that one or two might look at it
Thanks to the 1734 hits (as of posting )
Thanks to the people who comment especially Leisha and Findabair
Thanks to my first follower (and only one)
Here is a freebie to all that want a Irish mosaic print, It is made up of about 700 pictures that I have taken. It is sized for A3, but I am sure that it could be printed of larger as I have maxed the pixels.
Even if you don't print click on it to open and look thro the pics.

Tyrellspass Castle, Co. Westmeath

This is the last Castle of the Tyrell family friends of the O'neill Clan, who in the nine year war defeated the English, for their troubles when Cromwell came over to Ireland most of the family were executed, the castle was in disrepair for many years until it was restored in the 1970's. It is not open to the public but there is a nice restaurant on the ground floor.

Sunset faerie tree Cloonshecahill

Third post today and I know that I have posted this faerie tree before but as I have commented before, you can look at the same object every day and still see something new looking from a different angle, I have waited for a long time to get the Sun setting just right behind the tree and now I got it twice in 2 months

King Johns Castle Athenry, Co Galway

This Castle is built beside a little river that was a ford between 3 kingdoms, which is how the town got its name, Athenry is one of the few remaining walled towns in Ireland that still has the existing walls running around the town complete with towers.
The castle was built by Meiller De Bermingham and was built around 1250. I am embarrassed to say I do not know more and will have to find out more as I pass this every day.

Bunratty Castle, Co Clare

This is Bunratty Castle one of the west of Ireland's biggest landmarks as it runs close to the National route between Shannon Airport and Kerry.
Bunratty translated from the Irish language is bottom of the Ratty, which is the river that runs beside it. the area was first settled by the Vikings around the year 1000, the castle was built in 1270 and was later came into the De Clare family, Richard De Clare was defeated in 1318in the Bruce wars by the O'Briens and was sacked and burned.
It was restored for the king of England in 1332 and was once again attacked and razed by Irish Chieftain's under the control of the O'Briens and McNamara's.
It was rebuilt again in 1353 and the Irish attacked it again but this time did not burn it down and it remained in the O'Briens control until 1646 when the owner Barnaby O'Brien fled to England for his protection.
The house eventually fell into disrepair until Lord Gort brought and restored it and it became a leading attraction with a folk village showing how people lived in older times.

Bevy of Mute Swans Brackloon-Cloonshecahill

I posted earlier on a Swan, that swam all alone along the Dunkellin river after his* mate died, while this is not a great pic taken with my new phone (which has a 5 megapixal camera but a crap zoom for closeups), he has got buddies YAY.



*While I was never sure if it was male or female I joked with a friend that he had to be male, because like a lot of men who have lost a loved one he hung around all day drinking. So in my head he was always a Cob.

Moonlight Aughrim, Co. Galway

This was taken just after 5 this evening and is not the greatest shot but was better than the cultureless hole I was in today!

Fairy tree Cloonshecahill

I know I have posted this a few times but I have been at deaths door (read Man Flu) and this is the only shot I have taken in the past week.

Sunset Cloonshecahill

I have posted pictures of this Faerie tree before here and here, read below how the faeries got there.
The Tuatha De Dannan were semi gods and the representation of civilization and culture, their last battle was against the Mileseans or followers of Mil Espaine (soldier of Spain), these were not Spanish but Celts that had traveled through Europe to the Iberian peninsula and were of Mils tribe. He was foretold that he would be King of Ireland and he defeated the Tuatha De Dannan, As part of the truce they agreed that Ireland would be divided up between them and it was the task of the Mileseans to divide the country. In a clever stroke they partitioned such that the Mileseans would have domain over the ground and the Tuatha de Dannan would have all that is underground. After the battle as part of the terms of surrender they had to go to the otherworld, each Tuath de Dannan chief got his own mound. Obviously a small chief got this one :)

Sunrise Athenry

Forgive the quality and reflection in the foreground this was taken by my phone last week from the 3rd floor of our new office last week.
The trees in the foreground are at the edge of the railway track and blocks of the buildings in the background.

Happy Christmas Cloonshecahill Ireland

This is the only pic I have taken today one of the little birds that comes to feed, when my father was alive he would watch them for ages and sit with a contented smile on his face

I would like to wish anyone who looks at these photo's a happy holiday and thanks for all the nice comments.

Before Sunset, Navan , Co Meath

Reminded me of something Findabair said about a sunrise "looks like someone took a knife and slashed through heaven, leaving some rifts to let the light down through" . It was nicer than what I could have put here.

Trees along the road Navan County Meath

Foggy, frosty daybreak Piercetown County Meath

old ruin, Slane Co Meath

Old cottage Piercetown, County Meath

Sunset Piercetown, County Meath

All these were taken around what appears to be a burial mound (I might be wrong*) on the road from Kells to Ardee, these are just inside the Meath border.

Sunset Kells, Co Meath

The death-bed of a day, Bailey

Tower of llyod, Kells, Co Meath

The tower of Llyod is built on commonage just 3km north of Kells county Meath, it was designed by Henry Aaron Baker for the First Earl of Bective in memory of his father Sir Thomas Taylor in 1791.
There are different ideas on the purpose, for some it was built as a folly at a time in Ireland to provide money for the people after the first great famine.
For others as a look out tower to view the local events, from this point on a clear day you can see the witches peak in Oldcastle to the west , the mountains of Antrim to the North and the hills beside the sea (including Fourknocks passage grave) to the East.

Frost and Fog County Offaly.

Someone teased me about having 2 postings of one object. Here is the same scene taken over the space of an hour or so. I liked the silhouette of the trees against the fog and the frosted ground. These were taken near Bluebell cross in Offaly yesterday.

Old cottage Kilkenny

Forgot to add this last week, I liked the way the ivy has consumed this old cottage

Daybreak near Athlone

This is what I saw after getting my coffee, this morning. This was the same spot as the picture of the moon eclipsing venus was taken yesterday .

Occultation of the planet Venus by the Moon

After the moon had passed Venus this evening Ballinasloe

Ballynahown sculpture at sunsset

Kilkenny frosty dawn

Dineen Bridge, County Kilkenny

This bridge is just north of Kilkenny on the Ballyragget road on a sunny winters day today

Castlecomer, Bridge , Killkenny

I was passing through Castlecomer today and took this shots for DellRay, I only had a few moments so got no other shots of the area. This is the Bridge on the Dublin side of the town, there is a park there as can be seen from the first pic.

Rochfortbridge bog view, co westmeath

Meant to add this before a fine day in Ireland, this is on the road to Rhode

Dawn Rochfortbridge

Cloonshecahill, just before dawn

Claregalway Friary, County Galway

The Friary in Claregalway was commissioned in the 1250's by a Norman Knight, it flourished as a community until the 16th century reformation and was ransacked by the British army marching to Galway. It was used as a barracks for a while until the Franciscians took possession of it in 1941, it was in a state of disrepair and was not in their power to get it in running order. There were as many as 220 living in the building in the mid 1700's, by the 1830's there were only 2 left. The remaining 2 moved to the Galway community in the winter of 1847, tho' the friary remained a place of worship until 1860. It's graveyard is still used by the community to this day.

Ballynahown Sculpture County Westmeath

This Sculpture is in the centre of Ballynahown village it is made with bog oak. Sorry for the quality of the pics but forgot my camera for second day running.

Moate sculpture Westmeath

This is a sculpture that is on the Moate exit of the M6 (Dublin to Galway), there lots of sculptures along new sections of roads but this is the first one of the few I liked in a while.

Fourknocks passage grave

This is a compilation of pictures from an earlier post and a video of the view from the top of the passage grave.

Portumna workhouse County Galway

These buildings are part of a famine workhouse scheme that were set up after the famine to feed and house the starving population. There was a high mortality in the workhouses due to the conditions and to rampant disease. Portumna workhouse was built in 1852 and had an 'Poor law Union' area covering 121 square miles and was designed to house 600 people.

There were numerous famines in Irish History there were 2 "Great Famines" one in the 1740's that is not as reported on where 10% of the population died, and one a hundred years later where around 13% of the population died and 1.5 million people immigrated. studied

The latter is more reported because it was avoidable, it was caused by poor policies of the British Government and a deliberate slow reply and has been described as a Demicide, as opposed to Genocide where the extermination was planned.

sorry but I hadn't time to get better pics

Kiltullagh County Galway

This is an unusual piece in that it is a rest for a coffin, as in when people are carrying a coffin on their shoulders. It is on the route from the Church in Kiltullagh to the graveyard. I have not seen similar anywhere else and this is particularly personal to me as my late Father was one of the guys who restored this.

As can be seen in the picture the little road is only a local access road, but it used to be part of the regional road network when the English Landlords were in charge. This route was bypassed when the local landlord Daly, was embarrassed to pass in front of the priests house when he was going visiting his mistress, so he built a road through a turlough* so he would not be seen!

*Turlough is land that floods in winter or with a lot of rain.

Delvin, Westmeath

This might come across as mean but the best thing about Delvin is in these photographs, this is where I was today. As the old joke goes the best part of it is the road out of it. It is a dead little village, and luckily all of these things are close together.


What looks like an old Ringfort, similar to the hundreds in neighbouring Meath.


The ruin of Delvin Castle built in the 15th centuary



Inside of the old church




again the inside of the church






The spire of the old church



The old church and the Castle on the edge of town coming from Mullingar.








Newer Delvin Castle

Fourknocks passage grave

I had time to go back to Fourknocks passage grave north of The Naul and west of Stamullen it is 5000 yrs old and was excavated in the 50's. I had posted on this already in fourknocks passage grave babies but had not gone into the grave . This grave shows the types of Irish art from the period and are similar to the designs on stones in Newgrange but its cooler as you get to spend more than 15minutes in it. Could not find anything on the web to verify the story a local told me about the grave, the story told to me was that babies that were not fit got killed and burned in this grave.
As I posted in another place these passage graves are tied in with Irish mythology and the era of the Tuatha De Dannan. The graves are dedicated to the Gods of the Tuatha and became the retreat underground of the Tuatha after they were defeated. They were the ancestors of the faeries, or what the Americans call Leprechauns.
A point to note the last 3 images show snaps of the carving that is supposed to have the representation of a face, the last is the artists drawing of the representation.
NB there have to be better pictures out there of this passage grave, I had only a torch and shot all these on night mode with flash so forgive me.

Monaghan

Today was kinda overcast and there was not much to shoot but this is all that I did not deleteNot sure what this growth is on the tree but I thought it was unusual

I am afraid that this reminded me of the Simpsons when the old folk at the nursing home were promised the most duck filled pond. This is in Monaghan town.

Monaghan

I liked the colours of the trees, some were taken with a mobile so forgive the quality

When I used to sketch I liked to sketch trees like this.

Footbridge Sunset Galway

This is the footbridge behind my home, it was built by my Great Grandad, it is actually a double footbridge as there is a little island on the river. this photo was taken during the early summer when the water was low



This is the sun setting on Saturday day evening.




This is the sun setting just under the bridge as you can see I had to lay down low and hold the camera nearly on the water to get pic

Sarsfields Ride Tipperary

What is this picture saying to tourists?

This picture was taken on the "Sarsfield Ride" near Newport in Tipperary. This is along the route that Patrick Sarsfield the 1st Earl of Lucan took when he captured a Williamite convoy of military stores in a bold attack. This lead to a prolonged siege of the city of Limerick to the winter and the English had to give up.

Newport, Co Tipperary

Light at the end of the tunnel, between Keeper Hill and Slievebloom drive.



Keeper hill.

Kilnarach graveyard dating from 1291, I like the way the old church is covered in ivy, hadn't time to get closer pics.

Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo

Split personalitree

Devils Bit, Barnane Éile County Tipperary

According to the people of Tipperary the gap that can be seen on the top of this mountain is the result of the Devil taking a bite out of the mountain. He supposedly broke some teeth which then formed the Rock of Cashel.
Barnane Eile is the Gap of Ely, there was a powerfull Clan of O'Carroll, Princes of Ely a large territory that spanned 2 counties

Mary Wards Kiltulla Galway,

this is Mary Wards in Kiltulla, not only is it a postcard looking pub it has one of the nicest pints of Guinness in Galway. It is a real old fashioned place stone floors, open fires. I know that we are portrayed as an alcoholic bunch, but the social side of the local bar in the country side is very important.

Killimordaly sunset Galway

Faerie tree Cloonshecahill


Moon rising


Moon rising

Cloonshecahill, fog and a full moon, Co Galway

Cloonshecahill means Cathal's faerie meadow, this is the faerie tree in the village as can be seen there is a full moon and some fog. Apparently you can only see the faeries if you sit on a handmade 3 legged Ash stool under the tree at midnight.




this is the Dunkellin River in the fog on a full moon

Autumn Sunset Athlone

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Tullamore Offaly

This is Charlevile Forest Castle in Tullamore county Offaly, this supposed to be one of the finest examples of 19th century architecture in Ireland. As you can see not a lot can be seen from the road.

Small lake Monaghan

This is a small lake just west of Monaghan towards Clones

Emyvale Monaghan

Emyvale in Monaghan is the furthest town north in Monaghan and was the stronghold of the McKenna Family.



Emyvale lake is well known among anglers


One thing I noticed about the tree lines in north Monaghan there seems to be a variety of tree's.

Monaghan Sunrise

red sky in the morning shepards warning!

Old Border Crossing.Monaghan Armagh Border.

During the "Troubles" in Ireland 35 bridges were blown up between the border of Rep. of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This one survived, some of the older bridges along major crossings were bypassed in favour of newer bridges, this is one of them.

Monaghan

Just 2 old buildings along the road between the town of of Monaghan and Armagh


Leisha if you take time off answering your millions of readers, no-one lives in either building, I asked :P

Clones to Monaghan

Patrick Kavanagh wrote about Monaghan "O stony grey soil of Monaghan the laugh from my love you thieved; You took the gay child of my passion and gave me your clod-conceived". I read this poem "stoney grey soil" and the book "Tarry Flynn" when I was in school. In his poems you could see feel inner conflict with his mind fighting with his environment, the weather here has not helped me shake his view of the scenery along the route, It was too wet to get pictures of the lake along the route and has been generally depressing, but I'm sure if the weather was different I would have a different opinion.




This bridge looks like it used to be on the route between Monaghan town and Clones but now lies abandoned, the track of the road has been ploughed into the fields and this is all that remains.



Foal playing peek-a-boo in the long grass just outside Monaghan town.

Ring of Kerry

Before you start to look here I will highlight that in the Dingle area of Kerry there are 2000 archeology sites in the Dingle area alone in Kerry, so if I have left out some sites that I could not get too!
This is Gallarus Oratory in the Dingle area of Kerry, this is the most westerly point in Europe. It is supposed to have been built as early as the 6th century or the 9th Century, there are some differences of opinion. the sloping design makes the building strong and keeps the inside dry.









This is a cross that stands beside the oratory




This is Leacanabuile Stone Fort near Caherciveen this was built in the 9th or 10th century and was the home of a rich farmer, the entrance is on the east side as it is on a hill and is open to the elements, the circular building in the middle is the house. The walls of the fort are 3 metres in thickness and there are steps up to guard fort and as a lookout. I made sure to get people in the pictures to give perspective of heights.





This is Cahergall fort and is older again from the 5th century BC or the 4th century ad, it is hard to date.


at This is Staigue fort and is further south on the ring near the village of Sneem, it is popular with tourist's as the Bus stops here on the ring of Kerry, but there are better examples in Dingle, but that is just of the Ring that the daily bus tours don't always get to. I was probably not impressed that you paid a contribution to the guy that owns the land for upkeep and there was animals in the fort and sh!t everywhere. From an archaeological point of view is supposed to be 2500 years old and is a good example of dry stone wall building of that era.




These Beehive huts are on the Dingle peninsula these are difficult to date as corbel roofs have been in existence in Ireland since newgrange 3100BC and these huts have been used up to the 20th century as storage and for small animals such as sheep.






This is the remains of Ballycarbery Castle it is just down the road from Leacanabuile fort




This is the old British barracks in Caherciveen it is unusual with turrets but the story that it was built to a design supposed to be for India is probably false as this is a common myth in many of British built castles around Ireland.

Ring of Kerry mountains rivers and lakes

here are more pictures of the Ring of Kerry, as I said in an other post I have others to post of ruins, the Ring runs 170km in the south west of Ireland. If taking the drive all the coach tours travel in an anticlockwise direction to avoid traffic jams on narrow roads, so cars should go in a clockwise direction, so they don't get caught behind the buses


This is the lake south of Killarney






South of Killarney one of the most beautiful drives in Ireland












Bridge in Killorglan (great B&B beside the bridge), this little town crowns a goat as high king for one week in the summer. The goat is hoisted up in a tower and presides over the festival for the week.

Ring of Kerry coastline

The Ring of Kerry is one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland(and expensive), this is just a small part of pics I took this is along the coastline of the route, the whole drive is just over 170 km. I will post more, with mountains, ruins over the next few days.

Chasing rainbows in Cork

Castlecomer county Kilkenny

These are 2 bridges that used to be on the route from Castlecomer to Kilkenny city, the first one is mostly there while time has not been well for the other.

Kilcullen Kildare

Bridge is just north of Kilcullen county Kildare

Killimorday and New Inn Galway

A Picture of horse's on the Dunkellin River that flows through Killimordaly,


A Gatehouse to Woodlawn wood near the village of New Inn.

Obelisk/lookout tower Stamullen

This is the view from the hill north of the Naul and west of Stamullen village, on a clear day it is possible to see 100's of km to the North to the Antrim mountains


This is the view west, the mountains are hill of Kells Oldcastle and Cavan, The pictures to the south and east were not great because of rain.

I am not sure if this is an Obelisk or a lookout tower like the tower of Loyd in Kells, used to look across the plains of meath.

Fourknocks passage grave &burned Babies Stamullen Meath

This is a small passage grave near Stamullen and it is called Fourknocks, but its name comes from Irish Fuair(cold) Cnoc(hill) in English sounds like four knocks. This one is unusual in that it has a lot of stone carvings for such a small passage grave. The interesting thing here is they burned babies, yes you heard they burned babies inside the mound. According to some local historians the practice was to burn infants that had disease. I stil have not verified it yet but according to locals this is the story. And it looks so peacefull!


I had not time to get into the tomb, but there is an image on the outside of one of the carvings that depict a face, this is the only example of this time of a representation of a face as all other Irish carvings from the period were curvlinear (learned that in school ).