Shandon Above the Shopfronts
Cork’s Pope Quay packs more character into two hundred metres than most cities manage in a mile. I was standing on the south bank with the River Lee between us, drawn initially by the sweep of that pedestrian footbridge. It’s a clean, modern arc that sits surprisingly well against the jumble of modern, Georgian and…
The Bookshop Pigeon
A pigeon had taken up residence in the Dubray Books window on St. Patrick Street, wedged comfortably between Michael Palin and a Lonely Planet guide which is frankly better taste in travel literature than most of us manage. It sat there among the carefully arranged display like it had been hired for the job, unbothered…
This Car Is Protected by Fluff
A Hyundai sat brazenly on the double yellows outside Dunnes on Drawbridge Street, and behind the wheel, well, behind the steering wheel at least, sat this absolute unit of a security detail. Blue jumper on, mouth open, eyes locked on mine like I’d just tried the door handle. The owner had clearly nipped into the…
Clogher in Full Voice
The Atlantic was absolutely hammering Clogher Beach when I got down there a few weeks ago. A proper winter swell rolling in through the gap between the headlands, each wave stacking up and throwing that incredible translucent green you only get when the light catches the water from behind. An Fear Marbh sat out there…
When the Atlantic Catches Fire
The cold at Cappagh Beach the morning I made this photo was the sort that makes you question every life choice that led you to a dark car park before dawn. The sunrise wasn’t that great but shortly before we left, the sun cracked through a gap in the cloud and turned the entire Atlantic…
The Invisible Shift
A street cleaner with a bin bag in one hand, framed between a STOP sign and a no-right-turn sign. You couldn’t stage it better. I shot this from Drawbridge Street, watching the lunchtime crowd flow past him like water around a rock. What struck me was the contrast: dozens of people mid-stride, shopping or wandering…
Golden Hour at The Roundy
Late afternoon sun hit Castle Street at just the right angle and turned the whole scene outside The Roundy into something cinematic. The outside area of the pub was packed with people drinking and enjoying the afternoon and soaking up the kind of Cork sunshine you never quite trust to last. The lens flare flooding…
Teenage Kicks Through a Tiny Screen
A hand went up three rows ahead of me and suddenly I had my shot. The Undertones were tearing through their set at Cyprus Avenue in Cork, the stage lights throwing fat circles of purple and magenta across the room, and this person decided twenty seconds of shaky phone footage was worth the effort. It…
St. Finbarr’s Oratory at Dawn
Nine exposures, three positions, and a lake disturbed by a biting wind. That’s what it took to stitch this panorama together at Gougane Barra just after dawn. The sky refused to cooperate with anything dramatic, so I leaned on the scene itself: the oratory sitting quietly on its spit of land, the water holding just…
Dawn Sentinel at Gougane Barra
A bunch of us arrived in Gougane Barra this morning to photograph the sunrise, only to be met with driving rain and mist and fog on the hills. A biting wind tore through clothes making for a missed opportunity for all of us. Luckily, within a few minutes of arriving, a glow could be seen…
Northern Lights Over North Cork
You don’t expect to stand in a field north of Blarney and watch the northern lights, but here we are. Last night the aurora put on a show visible well into southern Ireland. Bands of pink and magenta hung across the sky, bleeding into that unmistakable green glow along the horizon. To the naked eye…
Golden Hour on Lough Aderry
I think this is my first or perhaps second time stopping at Lough Aderry, just outside Castlemartyr in Co. Cork. I’ve passed by there many times but in the evening when the light is good it’s always with the aim of getting home after a possibly long day away. This evening I did stop as…