Cork was wrapped in a thick fog on a mild Christmas Eve in 2005. Children were running around a painted maze on the ground near the National Monument on Grand Parade and having a great time. Twenty years ago! So much has changed.

Father Mathew Hall in Cork is well known to generations of school kids who participated in the annual Feis Maitiú there. This is what it looked like in 2006 and while it is still blue, the overhang appears to be gone if you look at it in Google Maps. I hope they still play bingo…

A friend’s cat wandering out of a hedgerow on to the gate of a field on a lovely July evening many years ago.

A huge crowd gathered around a man on stilts holding 3 flaming torches on St. Patrick Street, Cork in 2006. See how homogeneous the crowd is? A similar photo today would show a much more diverse set of people in modern Ireland. Edit: Since this caused quite a commotion on Facebook, I just want to…

This was twenty years ago on St. Patrick Street, Cork. Not in December obviously, but in May when children all over the country were celebrating their first communion.

When you want to play a game of football, you need to set your sights high and aim big. No point playing with 2 jumpers for the goalposts when you can bring the real thing from home!

Many years ago while travelling on the Dingle Peninsula we came across a donkey in a field in Muiríoch. I posted a photo of him in 2007 and again in 2008 but I happened to come across this photo of him and did a little work on the photo. There’s a chance this donkey is…

It was October 2007, and I was in Cobh to photograph the game between Cobh Ramblers and Dundalk FC. The visitors were beaten 1-0 but Chris Bennion stopped this attempt on goal. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve photographed a football game, but this was the first one, a long…

Cork City during the height of the Celtic Tiger era, captured in 2007 when Ireland’s construction boom was at its peak and the city skyline was dominated by cranes building new office blocks and apartments, including the Elysian Tower. It would all come crashing down financially within a year. Some apartments in the Elysian were…

Do you remember when the Grand Parade had motorcycle parking down the middle of the street? That was twenty years ago! See there’s no mural on the wall behind? This photo was taken on Christmas Eve 2005.

Twenty years ago Emmett Place in Cork was full of skateboarders jumping over ramps and very very close to a couple of photographers like me. I got some nice shots of them that have appeared here over the years but I missed this one, somehow! Twenty years ago. Cork in 2005. I wonder where they…

On a warm August day in 2005, you’d find plenty of lads fishing in Cobh, including this bunch who were brave enough to fish from a crumbling pier. Another photo from that evening shows a disturbance in the water at the mouth of Cobh harbour, where I presume sprat are desperately trying to get away…