The Old Shop at Myrtleville
The red building does the heavy lifting in this one. Squat, breeze-block, with a corrugated shutter rusting at its own pace and a smear of white graffiti for company. It used to be a shop. Hard to picture now, with the shutter pulled down for good and the paint going chalky, but at some point…
Blarney from Above in 2016
Blarney, from the secondary school and Woolen Mills to the Castle Digging through the archive I found these two aerial photos of Blarney from September 2016, and the first one stopped me. See those fields that border the houses on 3 sides? They’re now Cluain Ard with houses, gardens, driveways, the lot. Back then it…
Horse, Dog and a Quiet Hour on Silver Strand
We visited Sherkin Island more than ten years ago and walked the narrow road to the other side of the island, to Cow Strand and then on to Silver Strand. I’ve been back a few times since but I think this is the only time I saw a horse on the beach. It was a…
The wellness slogan and the whipped cream
I shot this on Princes Street in Cork back in 2016, and I had it filed in my head all this time as a Starbucks-versus-Starbucks gag. The wellness sermon in the window was contradicted by the Frappuccino in the hand. Turns out the window belongs to Rocket Man, a salad and juice bar, which means…
Eye of the Eagle
I spent a few minutes watching this white-tailed eagle do absolutely nothing, and it was riveting. It sat on its branch at Fota Wildlife Park like it owned the place which, fair enough, when you’re the largest bird of prey in Ireland, you probably do. The dark backdrop did me a favour here, throwing all…
Little Grebe, Smaller Grebe
I was visiting Fota Wildlife Park with Henry recently when he spotted these two in an enclosure and I genuinely cannot get over how small a little grebe chick is. It’s basically a wet pom-pom with an attitude. The adult, all chestnut throat and businesslike beak, was patrolling the surface and the chick paddled over,…
Dermot Henry at Cyprus Avenue
Dermot Henry @ Cyprus Avenue, Cork. I saw Dermot Henry perform at the Wavelength Rooftop Bar, attached to Cyprus Avenue, in Cork, last night. Folk music isn’t my usual cup of tea but Dermot’s got a great voice and judging by comments on his YouTube videos, a passionate following. The support singer was great too….
A Leg-up at Dawstown
The man in the blue jacket has both hands on the jockey’s left boot, mid heave, and number 37 is halfway between earth and saddle. It’s neither one place nor the other. I love the awkward physics of a leg-up. It looks ungainly until you remember it’s the only sensible way to get a small,…
A Siamang and Her Little Passenger
The siamang barely moved while I framed the shot. Two long arms hooked around the timber, and then a bundle of jet-black fur with two enormous eyes peering up. I’d wandered over to Fota’s gibbon island half-expecting the usual whooping chorus, but instead caught this quieter scene: mum holding her ground in a patch of…
The Patient Watchers of Fota Wildlife Park
Two herons, two very different moods. The first one had clambered up into the bare branches like it owned the place, scruffy chest plumes blowing about and that sharp yellow eye scanning the park below. The second was posing in profile on the netting above one of the enclosures, side-lit by late sun that caught…
Paul Young and Jamie Moses, eyes closed and lost in it
I had a fifth-row seat for Paul Young at St. Luke’s last night. It was sold out, so it was worth getting in early for the “From No Parlez to The Secret Of Association” tour. The clue was in the billing: this was pitched as intimate conversation plus acoustic versions, not a greatest-hits run-through. Judging…
The Diego Effect at Bantry Market
You can tell a dog has just walked past by the geometry of the smiles. Two heads turning at the same angle, the kid in the patterned fleece still oblivious, a smoothie stall behind them advertising Mango Mix and Berry Bliss like it’s any other Friday. Diego is a small chihuahua and entirely unaware that…