Construction on the Grand Parade

Pictured several months ago in February, pedestrians were blocked off from the construction work by high fences but not high enough to stop someone sticking a camera over the top.

This is one of the construction vehicles. Looks like a mix of a forklift and a crane doesn’t it?

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/160s

Pedestrians this way

Walking through a building site can be a hazardous task, especially when it’s one of the main streets of a city. Thankfully there are signs to lead the way through the maze of construction equipment, pot holes, broken paving and pipes. And then you get to the construction site.

Image made in February this year on the Grand Parade, Cork. Things have improved since.

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

Grand Parade on the Lee

This is the Grand Parade in Cork, from across the River Lee on Sullivan’s Quay. It was the graffiti on the river wall, “Tek”, that prompted me to shoot this image and I like how it came out.

It does lose something in this resized version because of the distant detail but it’s going to be a while before everyone has 20″ monitors and even longer before I put full size images on display for public consumption.

Aperture ƒ/13
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 20mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/160s

JCB on the street

A JCB helps to dig up the Grand Parade in Cork. This was shot last September and like the previous couple of shots, this street is completely different now. It’s looking well, although the fancy stonework is begining to lose it’s shine. The chewing gum is sticking, and the fumes of a living city blacken and dirty the white and red stone of the surface.

Still, it looked nice when it was completed. They’re just finishing off bits of the Grand Parade now so it’s interesting to see the difference between the new surface and the older.

Aperture ƒ/9
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/160s

Strolling on the Grand Parade

If that couple were to walk along the Grand Parade now they’d be in the middle of a busy street but back in August last year it was still a building site.

Wondering what Cork looked like over 20 years ago? Take a look at these photos!

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s

Running along Grand Parade

Just outside the Peace Park on Grand Parade in Cork an exuberant teenager went running towards me and I was lucky enough to grab this shot before they ran past!

Aperture ƒ/11
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/320s

Cork City Tour Bus

The Tour Bus just left without me! An open top bus brings tourists around the city, where to? I’m not sure, I’ve never taken it!

This was on Grand Parade about 9 months ago. The plastic dividers in the middle of the street are now gone and where that bus is driving is now pavement, with the odd road works still going on.

Aperture ƒ/10
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/250s

Fianna Fail in Cork

Fianna Fail, “The Republican Party”, had an office on the Grand Parade in Cork for years. Last time I looked the building was derelict. Anyone want to compare the state of their Cork office to their policies or chances in the next election?

Fianna Fail have been in power almost continuously for as long as I remember and before that of course. Will you vote for them?

This is next door to no 48 pictured yesterday.

I like this: May Day in California. Great street shots.

Aperture ƒ/8
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/160s

The red door at No. 48

No. 48 on Grand Parade Cork is an old disused building near the Goat Broke Loose. It’s also next door to the old location of Fianna Fail’s Cork office.

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/100s

The Goat is Dead

In my younger days when I was out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night with the rest of the crowd, “The Goat Broke Loose” was an occasional watering hole for me and my friends. It started out well, with a good mix of customers, although if memory serves there were a lot of preening ladies there too interested in looking in a mirror to notice a poor altruistic open source developer like myself!

In later years the pub became known as a place where a younger clientèle would gather to drink. Unfortunately for them it closed a few years ago but they all moved on of course to a new spot. I suspect it will be redeveloped because it is right next to the now closed Grand Parade Hotel and the City Library which is going to get a major new make over in the coming months if planning goes through.

Munsterpubs.com has a less than glowing review of the Goat but it’s pretty much spot-on. You can see the Goat in the background of Your mom knows kung fuu.

Well, that was strange. I published my post and the url to my image changed. I had to copy/paste it from it’s Flickr page again. First time that’s happened.

Links I like:


Apertureƒ/5
CameraCanon EOS 20D
Focal length18mm
ISO100
Shutter speed1/60s

Ireland V England at Croke Park

Ireland played England in rugby at Croke Park yesterday, and Ireland won, 43 points to 13!

This was an historic occasion. Landsowne Road, where rugby and soccer matches are normally played is being renovated. Croke Park is the headquarters of the GAA, the native Irish sports of football and hurling. Playing “foreign sports” there was like someone desecrating holy ground. Not that that stopped American football being played there a few years ago. I guess some sports are more foreign than others. It literally took years for this to happen. I kid you not. Year after year, the issue of “foreign sports” came up at GAA meetings and it was only recently they allowed them in. Bravo!

Anyway, to pile insult upon injury, the first second rugby game there would be Ireland vs England. Republican supporters were up in arms during the week. “800 years!” “Bloody Sunday!” “1916!” “Black and Tans!” Imagine, “God Save The Queen” would be played in Croke Park? It’s hard to fathom but it’s all over now.

This is the closest I got to the match. We were in town, I wandered around a bit with my camera before heading home and watched a DVD, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. What a wacky film. I loved it! Yes, I don’t have much of an interest in sport.

Aperture ƒ/4.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 10mm
ISO 400
Shutter speed 1/250s

Girl reflecting on bus

Waiting at the traffic lights, the camera can still see you, even if it’s not pointed in your direction. Those are the buildings of the Grand Parade in Cork behind her.

Aperture ƒ/3.5
Camera Canon EOS 20D
Focal length 18mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/100s