• Tigh Mor ar Oilean Chleire

    When you walk up one of the hills from the North Harbour in Cape Clear Island you’ll walk past this house at the top of the incline. It’s been there forever, and 15 years ago, the back of the house was a small shop selling sweets and other goodies. It’s a B&B now I think, certainly not a shop!

    Aperture ƒ/11
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 18mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/320s
  • Lifeboat 9 on the QE2

    Lifeboats are dotted around the The Queen Elizabeth 2. They’re high up above some of the lower decks as far as I can remember and there are plenty of them. Hopefully won’t ever be needed.

    Aperture ƒ/10
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 200mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/500s
  • Breckenridge Sunset

    The sun sets early in Breckenridge Colorado, well slightly earlier than in Ireland anyway. Myself and Anthony were working on one part of our secret project, and Mike Adams was working on the other bit, when Michael Koenig jumped up and went outside on to the balcony. I looked up and saw gorgeous red clouds and followed him with my camera. This is the result.

    Tall evergreen trees outside the house, and snow capped mountains on the horizon. The sun set behind them in a blazing ball of glorious colour. Beautiful.

    Aperture ƒ/4.5
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 100
    Shutter speed 1/50s
  • Directions to Blarney Castle

    Blarney Castle is that way. Go out the gate, turn right, turn left and park. Right in front of you.

    I got back to Ireland yesterday afternoon. A mostly uneventful flight home, except for some problems with check in and I had to check in twice more. On the last attempt I got bumped to Economy Plus with more legroom and to an aisle seat thanks to the very nice lady at the gate.
    The check in computer should be smart enough to offer an aisle seat in Economy Plus to me, even after I’ve declined that upgrade first. An aisle seat is worth the extra $109 because I was late checking in.

    I hope Lenny and Eoin got home without much hassle. We had hoped to meet up in Heathrow but my text to Lenny only delivered moments before I boarded the Aer Lingus flight to Cork. Guess United is faster than BA? I saw a flight around the same time to Dublin was cancelled so they may have had a wait.

    I love that I can run up the stairs now without getting winded. Wet? Damp? Oh yes! I don’t know how many bottles of water a day I consumed in Breckenridge because the air was so dry. Lovely people there, shame about the altitude!

    I have at least 100 photos to post to Flickr from this blog. I should write a plugin that emails the image there with description and tags from the WordPress interface.

    Aperture ƒ/7.1
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/125s
  • No visitors on the QE2

    Crowds gathered to see the Queen Elizabeth 2 off from Cobh 2 weeks ago, but they weren’t getting on board unless they had a ticket!

    Aperture ƒ/9
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 18mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/200s
  • Cobh Street Entertainer

    A singer outside the Commodore Hotel in Cobh kept the crowd entertained and attracted the attention of my son Adam who wasn’t happy unless he was outside listening to him.

    Photos of Breckenridge, Colorado to follow, although I didn’t take that many. Too busy to leave the house much unfortunately!

    Aperture ƒ/8
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 24mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/125s
  • An Siopa Beag

    An Siopa Beag ar Oilean Chleire is the small shop on Cape Clear Island in The Club in the North Harbour. It’s more than a shop of course, and tables are set up outside for customers to enjoy their tea or whatever they’re eating.

    Aperture ƒ/13
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 18mm
    ISO 400
    Shutter speed 1/400s
  • Ex large pears

    Fruit and veg on display in a shop in the English Market, Cork.

    Aperture ƒ/3.5
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 18mm
    ISO 1600
    Shutter speed 1/80s
  • Boat Wreck at Dunboy Castle

    The remains of a boat lie in the water by Dunboy Castle in Co Cork, Ireland. We were there last March, only days before 3 young men were killed when their car went into the water.

    As you may know, I’m in Colorado along with most of Automattic. You can check out photos taken by me and my colleagues. It’s a beautiful area, but the thin air at such a high altitude is playing havoc with my body: breathlessness, a racing heart while lying down, sinuses out of whack, the after effects of 3 drinks feels like a heavy night of boozing.

    Budget Day today in Ireland. If I don’t catch the RTE coverage of it live I’ll watch Twitter and check the headlines after.

    Aperture ƒ/5
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 22mm
    ISO 100
    Shutter speed 1/50s
  • The chains of fishing

    Chains on a quayside in Schull, near where yesterday’s shot was taken, I think.

    I’m in Colorado, at 9,00ft. The air is noticeably thinner here. Won’t be any running about or physical exercise for a few days!

    Aperture ƒ/5.6
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 100
    Shutter speed 1/80s
  • Fishing rope and tackle

    Fishing tackle in Co Cork somewhere. Can’t remember where now! Love the texture of this sort of equipment, especially in black and white.

    Aperture ƒ/5
    Camera Canon EOS 20D
    Focal length 10mm
    ISO 100
    Shutter speed 1/60s
  • Arson attack on Blarney Garda Station

    On Friday morning around 5am the Gardai on duty at Blarney Garda Station were called away on what turned out to be a hoax. Unfortunately while they were out the Garda station was attacked, the front door kicked down and firebombs thrown into the rooms downstairs. The building itself is quite old and burned quickly. Luckily the blaze was seen by a security guard from a nearby hotel or much more damage could have been done.

    The building is unusable now of course. A Garda has been posted outside since, and this afternoon forensics were examining the site.

    More coverage: Irish Times, Tribune, Herald.

    Aperture ƒ/6.3
    Camera Canon EOS 40D
    Focal length 72mm
    ISO 1000
    Shutter speed 1/100s