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O’Keeffe Lounge and Bar

I happened upon the O’Keeffe Lounge and Bar while wandering around Bantry last Sunday morning. Given the name of the establishment I just had to take a shot didn’t I?

Note the “Welcome to the pint depot” quotation?

Congratulations to Gingerpixel who won Best Photoblog at last night’s Irish Blog Awards. Ryan so deserves a special mention for doing the photography on the night, yet again! And of course, a big thank you to Damien for getting the ball rolling and organising the whole thing.

Square tiles and doorway

A man leaves Larry Tompkins Pub on Lavitt’s Quay, Cork. This was taken on St. Patrick’s Day this year!

Scared Child

A girl looked up at me from her buggy as I took her photo with the wide angle lens of my camera. This was taken just after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year and the place was black with people, especially outside the The Larry Tompkins pub so no wonder she was a little upset. Mum can be seen in the background, looks like they’re going home.

Today is the calm before the storm. I woke up to quiet. Oscar is with my family, Jacinta and Adam are still in the hospital. Tomorrow, everyone comes home probably, although Jacinta could do with an extra day.

Thank you to everyone who commented yesterday (and here too!) I’m bringing my laptop into the CUMH this afternoon to share with Jacinta all the good will and wishes left by you and everyone else!

PS. Good luck to Donal and Celine who are off to Lesotho today for 10 days. They have a long jounrey ahead of them but I know they’re going to do some great work out there, the money they’ve raised will be well spent and I’m looking forward to the photos!

The Goat is Dead

In my younger days when I was out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night with the rest of the crowd, “The Goat Broke Loose” was an occasional watering hole for me and my friends. It started out well, with a good mix of customers, although if memory serves there were a lot of preening ladies there too interested in looking in a mirror to notice a poor altruistic open source developer like myself!

In later years the pub became known as a place where a younger clientèle would gather to drink. Unfortunately for them it closed a few years ago but they all moved on of course to a new spot. I suspect it will be redeveloped because it is right next to the now closed Grand Parade Hotel and the City Library which is going to get a major new make over in the coming months if planning goes through.

Munsterpubs.com has a less than glowing review of the Goat but it’s pretty much spot-on. You can see the Goat in the background of Your mom knows kung fuu.

Well, that was strange. I published my post and the url to my image changed. I had to copy/paste it from it’s Flickr page again. First time that’s happened.

Links I like:

• The “Beauty Function” For a More Beautiful You
• I take photees ! by Lili Forberg, a freelance photographer in Dublin. She has some great shots, including behind the scenes shots of model shoots.
• Web-based Photoshop on the Way - Pixenate and other online editors will give it a run for the money but it’ll be interesting to see how this shakes things up.
• Co Cork sunset by Treasa Lynch. Definitely worth missing 10 minutes of that game!
• They Just Went Home For The Night are photos from Rover’s Longbridge plant in the UK. Michael Scott of Photo Addiction took the photos while Collin provides the text on this eery post.
• The New Portrait: A Study in Three Parts - how 10 photographers approach taking portraits. Great gallery, pity it opens in a too-small popup.
• Be careful what you sign - when you sign a contract you could be signing away all your rights, but it could be illegal. Read carefully.
• Watch what you say and how you act - this applies to any profession. The person walking next to you to aa meeting could be the new client.
• A review of Smugmug. I have a Deviantart store where you can buy some of my prints. I haven’t sold any yet but I don’t try hard. Have you sold prints from your photoblog?
• Videos from Fosdem are now online including one on GEGL, the graphics library the GIMP will eventually use.

The Mills Inn

The Mills Inn, just outside Baile Bhuirne in the Gaeltacht of Mhúscraí, Co. Cork.
We stopped here for a meal on the way to Dingle and I must say, it was great! Their website has a lot more to say about what they offer and information about the beautiful surrounding countryside.
Baile Bhuirne is translated as Ballyvourney in English, but I think the Irish rolls off the tongue better. Many place names in Irish speaking areas had their names translated to the same sounding word in English but it’s never as nice.
How do you pronounce it? Bah-ill-ya Vurna is fairly close.

The Tin Pub in Ahakista

One of the highlights of Ahakista in Co. Cork is the Tin Pub set in the middle of an area lush with vegetation, flowers, trees and lovely West Cork Scenery.

Jacinta visited here several years ago with her friend Mary when they had a picnic in the back garden. We did the same, after asking the family who own the building. You see, the pub wasn’t open yet, but then Tom had a wedding the previous night and finished work at 4am. Shortly after we made ourselves comfortable outside and had poured our tea he showed up and smiled when he saw our picnic.

After our picnic we got chatting to Paul and Cath, who are over from Cornwall for a week. Over a pint we soon got lost in the easy going atmosphere of the pub and before we knew it time had caught up with us and we had to make the journey home.

Despite Pete McCarthy’s assertion that driving down a road with grass in the middle means you’re going the wrong way, you should try the “alternative route” to Ahakista. When you leave Bantry take the first turn right to Sheepshead and you’ll see it sign posted a few miles down the road. Go slowly, because others use the road, but the scenery is amazing. If it wasn’t for the fact that we were late leaving home, I would have stopped several times to shoot landscapes.

I can’t remember the last time I was in this part of the world, but the beautiful scenery and laid back way of life means I’ll be back!