Friday 31 August 2012
Monday 27 August 2012
Sunday 26 August 2012
Friday 24 August 2012
Thursday 23 August 2012
Saturday 18 August 2012
Thursday 16 August 2012
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Tuesday 14 August 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.
Monday 13 August 2012
Sunday 12 August 2012
Saturday 11 August 2012
Friday 10 August 2012
Thursday 9 August 2012
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.
Wednesday 8 August 2012
Tuesday 7 August 2012
Monday 6 August 2012
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...
Friday 3 August 2012
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 ?
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.
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.
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