Cork Harbour – In Photos dot Org

The Passage West to Monkstown Run

Black and white photograph of young man on small bicycle riding along curved road from Passage West to Monkstown in Co Cork, with footpath, street lamps, dense woodland, and rolling hills in background

The bike might be a little small but it got him to Monkstown in the end, I hope.

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	55mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/25s

Mahon’s Radio Tower

View across water of telecommunications tower on grassy hillside surrounded by mature trees in Mahon, Cork, with stone seawall and rocky shoreline in foreground under clear blue sky

Twenty two years separate the two images here. The first one is a photo of the old radio antenna tower in Mahon and it was taken in 2003. Back then cattle grazed in the field the tower stood in. That tower was dismantled around a year ago. There’s an interesting Reddit thread here about it. The second photo was from earlier this year where a smaller tower with familiar equipment for what is probably mobile phone cell reception.

It’s an old AM / Medium Wave radio tower that used to carry RTE Radio Cork / Radio 1 and at one stage even a relay of 2FM on medium wave, for those who liked their music crackly. It hasn’t been on air rather a long time an I think RTE has a number of transmitters being demolished. They’re doing it as a single contract.

As far as I’m aware that site was decommissioned in the early 2000s, before RTE finally switched off the main Medium Wave (AM) site in Tullamore. The transmitter itself is long gone. All that’s there is the mast.

There’s no prospect of that mast ever being used again.

Old AM sites typically use the whole structure of the antenna as the transmitter. They often sat on an isolated base and the tower height is half the wave length. So you can’t even easily retune them for an alternate AM frequency and they’re relatively useless for mobile phone gear as they are somewhat flexible and move in the wind.

Basically it would cost RTE a fortune to maintain it, even if it’s a local landmark. They’re not going to pay for ongoing maintenance and they’re quite complicated structures with guy-wires and aircraft hazard lighting and all that stuff.

Aperture	ƒ/4.8
Camera	FinePix2800ZOOM
Focal length	22.4mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/550s

Cobh Shines Bright Over Cork Harbour

Cobh, a few minutes before fireworks lit up the sky last month.

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	105mm
ISO	800
Shutter speed	10s

Masts and Mirrors

I visited Kinsale recently with Blarney Photography Club. Many photos were taken all around the town, but I went down the quay to start with the boats mooored nearby.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7RM5
Focal length	46mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	2s

HNLMS Dolfijn Visits Cork

In 2003, the Dutch submarine, Dolfijn, or Dulfun, visited Cork for a few days. I happened to be around town and spotted it from Kennedy Quay where I’d been photographing the ships, buildings and machinery.

When it left Cork, it headed to Mallorca. September in Cork is nice, but I wouldn’t mind a few days there in October!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	CYBERSHOT
Focal length	11.3mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/500s

Fog descends on Roche’s Point Lighthouse

Fog flows over the landscape and will soon cover the small town and the lighthouse. The water of Cork Harbour can be seen in the foreground.

Fog flowed in from the sea on a warm day in March, 2011. It almost covered the lighthouse, and it will do so a few minutes later.

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	300mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/1250s

The ruins of Heartbreak Pier in Cobh

The remains of the pier in Cobh where people left for boats to leave Ireland for foreign shores. Including the 123 who boarded the Titanic.

The remains of the pier where people boarded boats to take them to the Titanic and other ships. 123 people left Cobh here to board the Titanic that was moored off Roche’s Point, at the mouth of the harbour.

In March 2018, plans were approved for an observation walkway and ticket kiosk, but thankfully they were rejected in April 2019.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	55mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/50s

Grace O’Malley in Cork

Training ship Grace O’Malley docked in Cork recently.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	58mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/6s

Elisabeth Leaves Cork

The container ship Elisabeth left Cork yesterday at 17:19 on its way to Southampton in the UK. Here it is rounding the bend by Blackrock Castle as it heads into the harbour and out to sea.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	240mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/320s

Belem and Grace O’Malley in Cork

Belem, a French tall ship, was docked in Cork Harbour until 10am this morning. There was a mostly disappointing sunset last night, but the sky did light up briefly just at the horizon.

The masts and rigging of the Grace O’Malley, the new sail training ship can be seen in the background. It was a lovely evening to be out taking photos.