Limerick coastline, Foynes

Spike Island Co Cork

Sitting in the middle of entrance to Cork waterway Spike Island had a colourfull past. It was settled as a monastic site, later it was developed as a fort , then it became a prison and now it serves as a tourist location during the summer 

Lakes and River Shannon, North Roscommon

Lough Key

Lough Drumharlow

River Shannon

Sunset Tuam Co Galway.

Kilronan Mountain bog view, Co Rocsommon

On a clear summers day there are great views across several counties, even on a cloudy day there is still a nice view of the surrounding countryside. 

Lough Meelagh

 Looking east from mountain top

Cilin/Lisheen Corofin Co Galway

A Cillin is a unconsecrated graveyard, some date back 1000 years and the tradition was adopted from pagan times. The graveyards were used for unbaptised children, suicides and murderers among others, this one is on a Lisheen which is the remains of an old ring settlement these were often used for burial

Connemara coast

Two shots taken along Connemara coast today, looking south towards Clare

Taken in Furbo

Taken in Spiddal 

1916 Memorial Roscommon

Near Elphin this memorial to the Roscommon people who died in 1916.

 

 During the 1916 rising 1200 men and women armed with light arms held off 16000 English army with gunships and artillary for 6 days in Dublin, with smaller battles throughout the country.

All though badly supported, defeated and major leaders executed, it brought back the dream of independence. The war of Independence between 1919 - 1921 eventually led to Independence from England.

Ross Castle revisited.

I was here before during October 2013 (to see click here) and the place has a lovely history.Ross Castle is the home of the O'Donoghue Clan and was built in the 15th and changed hands after the Desmond rebellion to the Brownes, the Earls of Killarney. It was the last Castle to fall to Cromwell during the Irish confederate wars when 4000 foot Soldiers, 200 horsemen marched on it and Artillary approached it from the lake. The Castle is open to the public as a museum with guided tours and no photos are allowed inside. 

The lake beside the castle is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of  O'Donoghue Ross, how watches over the castle and who can be seen on  certain days of the year.

Ross Castle with snow capped mountain in background

Feeding the Ducks

Lake and Mountains

River walk

Fishing boats abandoned for the winter

Some of the walk around the castle

A seat with a view

Hedge School with a view, Co Carlow

I came across this seat with a plaque on a quiet rural road in Co Carlow.

 In the 1690s in an attempt to Anglicise the Irish, the Penal Laws were enforced and part of those laws ment that no Catholics were allowed to educate their children or send them abroad for education. 

So teachers set up schools in hedgerows and disused farm buildings and educated  the children there. 

DURING
THE PENAL TIMES
A HEDGE SCHOOL
WAS
LOCATED IN THIS
PICTURESQUE PLACE

The view from the seat

 This is a depiction of a hedge school