I have a good reason for photographing this perfectly ordinary scene. Over the years I’ve taken photos of men sitting on that electricity box, and this just adds to that collection.
First there was this photo of Liam Foley, an elderly man enjoying a cigarette. He passed away 2 months after that photo was taken. I was glad I could pass on that photo to his family.
I’m not a big fan of brown, and there’s a lot of brown in the new Bishop Lucey Park. I do really like what they did with the old wall. That’s the slightly rough-looking grass bit in the second picture of my gallery. The old park had this cut off from the public behind railings, with stagnant water collecting at the bottom. Now, it’s an area where people can sit on steps and walk around.
I love that the old entrance is still there and that they removed the railing running around the outside.
It’s disappointing to see that gravel was used so much. I imagine it has something to do with maintenance, but it would have been nice to see more grass. However, as it is now, there’s huge scope for holding open-air events there that aren’t beholden to the weather and wet grass.
It will look nice in the warmer months when leaves return to the trees. It was a missed opportunity to use more colour. What would a dash of colour do to the mood of the park?
Cork’s newest bridge is a new pedestrian or cycle bridge that spans the River Lee from Wandesford Quay to Lambley’s Lane. You’d be forgiven if you’re not familiar with either area, as they aren’t exactly the most trafficked areas in the city.
If you’re curious, Lambley’s Lane is off to the side of the old Beamish & Crawford brewery, and the bridge is worth a look at night. Henry shared a photo of the bridge a couple of days ago. Thank you, Henry, for pointing out where it was. I had no idea.
If you look carefully, you can see all the way down Tuckey Street to Oliver Plunkett Street. During the day, you might even see down to Parnell Place, maybe?
Here’s the latest news from Cork City Council about the bridge and the newly reopened Bishop Lucey Park. Photos of that to come…
The Three Sisters on the Dingle Peninsula in Co. Kerry. The sun had just sunk below the horizon and beyond a cloud bank at the horizon but the sky was still glowing a lovely soft yellow glow.
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?
My first time visiting the famous fishing hut at Screebe in Connemara was last night, when we were blessed with an evening without even a breeze to disturb the water.
Unfortunately, there was an excess of low cloud, with a cloud bank at the horizon that swallowed the sun at the horizon behind the house, but by moving around we caught a break and saw a lovely yellow glow in the distance.
A stag digs up the grass to decorate his antlers in Killarney National Park a few weeks ago.
Antler entanglement with vegetation is a common occurrence during the red deer rutting season and is primarily caused by a behaviour called “thrashing,” where stags violently shake their antlers against trees, shrubs, and ground vegetation. This behaviour serves multiple purposes: it helps remove the dried velvet that covered growing antlers earlier in the season, it deposits scent from glands near the eyes onto vegetation to mark territory, it demonstrates strength and aggression to rival males, and it creates visual displays that attract females. During peak rutting activity, stags may thrash vegetation dozens of times per day, and the force involved can uproot small plants entirely, strip bark from trees, and break substantial branches. The Irish name for red deer, “fia rua,” literally means “red deer,” and historical Irish texts frequently reference the autumn roaring season when stags’ bellowing calls could be heard echoing across valleys. The physical demands of rutting are so intense that stags typically lose 10-20% of their body weight during the season, as they spend most of their time and energy on reproductive behaviours rather than feeding. Killarney’s native red deer population represents Ireland’s only surviving indigenous red deer herd, genetically distinct from Scottish red deer introduced elsewhere in Ireland, making behavioural observations like this particularly valuable for understanding the ecology of Ireland’s original red deer. The autumn rut typically peaks in October, which means stags spend about 4-6 weeks in this heightened state of activity, after which successful males are often exhausted and in poor condition heading into winter, requiring the entire spring and summer to recover condition for the following year’s rut.
Right, so let’s talk about the absolute star of Cork’s Dragon of Shandon parade—the massive skeletal dragon that dominated the streets and created that perfect mix of ancient mythology and contemporary street theatre that defines this extraordinary event.
The parade really is a spectacular event, and the dragon brings up the rear with ominous music and a rider on top. It’s really quite a sight to see!
It’s not often you’ll see giant jellyfish floating along North Main Street, although with the rains pummeling Cork in the last few days there may well have been floods along there.
Aperture
ƒ/5.6
Camera
ILCE-7RM5
Focal length
24mm
ISO
10000
Shutter speed
1/50s
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