The Green House
The Green House, a small cafe in Blarney near Blarney Castle. It was previously the local Post Office but is now quite nice I’m told. Haven’t been in there yet. Blarney Garda Station was set alight last night. I half heard something on the radio about it and confirmed it when Gordon replied to my…
QE2 Funnel in the Sky
The funnel of the Queen Elizabeth 2 looms over Cobh as seen from near the Commodore Hotel.
Queen Elizabeth 2 in Cobh
The QE2 docked in Cobh last Thursday. This was shot at the bottom of steps down to the water where seaweed made footing precarious. I saw a few people venture down the steps but none went further than half way down. The tide was well out so I was maybe 3m below the quayside, standing…
An club agus an cnoc
The club and the hill. This is the North Harbour in Cape Clear Island. The club is familiar to all who visit this part of the world, as are the hills unfortunately. This particular hill overlooks the whole harbour and feels like a 45 degree struggle at times. I still have memories of climbing it…
Queen Elizabeth 2
Luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 tied up at the quayside in Cobh, Co Cork last Thursday. This was moments before she cast off. You can see a tug in the background of this image. It was bitterly cold down on the quay, but we were lucky that the evening sun cast a lovely golden…
Flying the Irish Tricolour on the QE2
The Queen Elizabeth 2 is a British ship, and it’s likely that many of the passengers were British too. I spotted one large Union Jack flag draped over a railing and people on the ship waved mini Union Jack flags too. That sort of gets under the skin of many Irish people. A huge crowd…
QE2 Leaving Cork
The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2, flagship of the Cunard Line, docked for the last time in Cobh yesterday and left this evening just after 6pm. Here she is after turning in Cork Harbour and seconds before she increased speed and left the harbour for good. In 2009, she will become a floating hotel in…
Tir na nOg ar Oilean Chleire
Tir na nOg is the house on the right of this photo. It’s a house that Colaiste Ciaran, an Irish summer school on the island, rents during the summer and where I spent a number of weeks years and years ago. The long, low building attached to the left is a canteen. An Oige have…
General Michael Collins
Michael John (“Mick”) Collins (Irish: Mícheál Seán Ó Coileáin; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently he was both Chairman of the Provisional…
San Francisco 4884m
San Francisco is 4884nm (nautical miles?) from Cape Clear in Co Cork. Have you noticed the misspelling yet? I never did until a few minutes ago!
Angela’s Shop in Fountainstown
Angela’s Shop and Coffee Dock in Fountainstown Co Cork. This shop has been at the beach in Fountainstown for the last 20 years (according to the owner) but I had never ventured inside until today. We were served lovely cups of tea which we enjoyed outside in the blazing sun. I had hoped to shoot…
Cottages in decay
Two tiny cottages sit on the quayside in Cape Clear’s North Harbour. You might have missed them when you arrived because they’re off in the opposite direction most people take. I was quite taken with the contrast between both cottages. While both are obviously old and have seen better days, the left one has a…