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A doorbell on a building on the seafront in Cobh. I can’t remember which building exactly but it was down in the direction of the train station.

It’s scorchio in Ireland now and it’s great! We adopted Oscar yesterday and the poor
dog was upset last night until we brought him for a walk. I think I’m finally going to get that exercise I’ve been promising myself for ages!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/30s

An Modh Scoil

This is the Small Claims Court in Cork. If you have a grievance about a product or service you can bring a case against the provider here for around 15 Euro.

In a past life it was also a primary school. I went to school here in the early 80’s when it was the Model School or “Modh Scoil” in Irish.
If you look carefully you may be able to see the inscription, “Cork District Model National School” over the door.
When it was a school the brickwork needed repair, the grounds were simple cement paths with green areas and the heating was open fires and boilers in several of the classrooms. Teachers had to pile on more coal to keep the fire going.
After the school closed down they couldn’t demolish the building because of it’s age so it was converted into a court.

I visited there last year with Jacinta and we were shown around by a friendly guard. I left my camera in it’s case. It was strange to see that the 6th class classroom was now a small courtroom, that huge rooms with high ceilings had been boxed off into offices, and that the boy’s toilets at the end of the building was now a holding cell for prisoners.

This is my first shot taken with the Sigma 10-20mm lens posted here. I didn’t need the wide angle because this is slightly cropped from the original.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

Victoria Road Gate

A gateway on Victoria Road, Cork. A suspicious young man glanced out at me when he heard the shutter of my camera. I suppose I would be too!

Aperture ƒ/7.1
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/125s

Tom Murphy Men’s Wear

We returned my wedding suit yesterday to Tom Murphy Men’s Wear and Dress Hire Service.
Irish people love to complain about the shoddy service they receive when shopping but rarely do they shout about a great shopping experience when helpful and enthusiastic staff make the process so much easier.
Selecting the right wedding suit was probably the most important clothing choice I made in my life but Dermot, Tom and Owen were there to help.

If you need to hire wedding suits then do drop into Tom Murphy’s on St. Patrick Street Cork and tell them Donncha sent you!

Aperture ƒ/6.3
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/100s

Tithe Eireannacha

Nestled in between the city centre of Cork and Blackrock lies an old and historic part of Cork City. Albert Road and Hibernian Buildings are only two streets in this area and should be familiar to anyone on the south side of the city.

Welcome everyone from tportal.hr and htnet.hr! Can someone translate what they said about my blog there and leave it as a comment on this post please? 160 hits from those sites this morning already so I’m hoping it was complementary!

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/320s

Ireland Today: construction

Ireland today is defined by construction. A huge portion of the Irish economy is driven by the residential building trade. An acre of land can go for €50m and up in Dublin. Two rate hikes by the ECB hasn’t dampened Irish interest in owning their own property.
This crane was pictured at University College Cork where building work on new developments continues.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

Picadilly Lane

Cork has it’s own Picadilly, Picadilly Lane leads off North Main Street and is situated next to the butchers I featured previously.
A quick search of Google didn’t find anything about it but hopefully someone will stumble across this post and add whatever knowledge they have about this small lane.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 162mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/60s

Selection of Gardening Equipment

Side view of a hardware and tool shop on the corner of North Main Street and Kyle Street.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/200s

Red Dragon

A Welsh flag pictured inside a window. This is just down the road from St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral in Cork and is probably student accommodation because it’s close to UCC too.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 125mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/400s

Abandoned Train Station

In Killeagh, East Cork, there’s an abandoned train station from I don’t know how long ago. According to Wikidepia it’s unlikely that the station will be restored because there isn’t enough demand. The Cork-Midleton line will however open by 2008.
While researching this post I found out that the town of Killeagh was an important place in the Fenian Rising of 1867!

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 6s