Silver

Tall Ship(s)

The Tall Ships were in Dublin over the weekend and one and a half million people went to view them. But trust me to miss it - I was working and when I got there,  there was only ONE Tall Ship left!

Welcome To The Ship Of Fun

Still - the party on the Cill Airne was still in full swing. They had a Band playing (mostly nautical songs), there were Irish dancers and the beer was flowing

The Liffey from Samuel Beckett Bridge

 

Trinity College, Dublin

(the new) Smithfield

Time For Tea

Life Goes In Cycles

 

All Ireland Scarecrow Festival 2012

Novel Idea

Street Art: A few weeks ago I noticed a young artist painting this metal box on Ormond Quay Upper which contains telephone cabling. It used to be a bit of a grey eyesore but now it's brightly coloured and made to resemble bookshelves. Ingeniously the artist has left most of the book names blank and has invited the public to fill in the titles of favourite books.

Jazz, on Sunday afternoon ...

 Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys, Sin É

Manor Street

Tractor - Aughnacloy

The Icon Factory, Temple Bar - Wall Of Fame

Near Inis Córthaidh/Enniscorthy, County Wexford

 August sunrise, 6am

Inis Córthaidh/Enniscorthy

If you photograph a town, any town, anywhere, you normally catch the hustle and bustle of daily life - people rushing here and there, or taking life easy ... talking, laughing, having a smoke ... cars, trucks, dogs, pigeons,  all vieing for space ... But when I passed through Enniscorthy at 06.15 am there were no sounds, no traffic, just one solitary Polish man waiting for a lift to go to work. Silence.

Official Silence Trailer

Silence

Silence | State Magazine

Where You Lead - Carole King

For reasons that I can't explain these are my all-time favourite lines from a song. It's probably because of the soulful way Carole King sings the words, combined with the beautiful sentimentality expressed. The Scarecrow photo was taken in Durrow, County Laois at the town's annual Scarecrow Festival. More on that later...

Northside Music Festival 2012

Discovered the Northside Music Festival by chance as I walked past Wolfe Tone Square. The festival is organised by Dublin City Council and runs from August 6th to 26th, with events taking place at six different outdoor venues around the city

Young Musicians Provide Free Entertainment

Irish music has enjoyed a huge renaissance and young people are keeping old traditional tunes alive.

Some People Brought Their Dancing Shoes

I'm Starting With a --- In the Mirror

(Car)

Spotted near Dundalk, as I sat in traffic, this Mark 1 Ford Escort brought back some happy memories ...The Mark I was manufactured by Ford between1968 and 1974.

Climbing Errigal (An Earagail)

An Earagail or Errigal is County Donegal's highest peak at 751 metres (2,464 ft). I climbed the mountain many times in my youth and decided that I would do so again this year. But our Irish Summer has turned out to be disappointing so far and I waited three months for a suitable weekend. I visited the Gaoth Dobhair area in North West Donegal last weekend to attempt the climb but there was yet more wind and rain instead of sunshine and blue skies. With time running out on Sunday evening I looked towards this majestic volcano shaped mountain and pondered ... will I, won't I ?

Getting Closer

There is a small cloud "cap" on top but it looks reasonably clear. It is 18.15 on Sunday evening and I decide to have a go.

There are no cars in the carpark at the foot of the mountain, which probably means there is no one else up there, but there is no turning back now. The first few hundred metres are extremely difficult. The terrain is wet, soggy, marshy peatland with meandering little streams flowing down from the mountain. These make their way eventually to Dunlewey lake, and on via the Clady river to the Atlantic. At last I reach rocky ground and a path hewn out of stone by many thousands of human feet over many thousands of years. In my photo you can see nearby Lough Altan, and in the distance the Atlantic ocean. Inis Bó Finne and Toraigh islands are faintly visible below cloudy skies. Soon I am battered by a fierce rain shower and a howling gale. I shelter behind a rock and put my back to the storm. At moments like this - crouched behind a rock on the side of a mountain while a mini monsoon rages, one has to question the sanity of oneself.  The storm abates after ten minutes though and disappears eastwards towards the Derryveagh mountains. My climb resumes. I ache. I really, really feel like turning back. But I won't.

The path is narrow and uneven. One false step and you could fall over the edge. Funny how I don't remember any fear from climbing this in my youth?

I am nearing the top but visibility is very poor. It's cold and misty. It's lonely up here but at least I have my mobile phone. The last time I was here mobile phones hadn't been invented. I see some yellow flowers.

On Top Of The World - well, Errigal at least

Eureka! I reach the top. There are actually two peaks connected by a narrow 50 metre path. I reach the 2nd peak and balance myself for a few seconds on it's highest stone. I am the tallest person in Donegal. On a clear day they say you can see Scotland from here. But not today. It's 19.30pm, time to go back down. I don't want to be on Errigal when darkness falls.

 Lough Altan keeps appearing and disappearing again as misty clouds gallop eastwards from the Atlantic. Who said the descent would be easy?