Ireland – Page 254 – In Photos dot Org

Boat Wreck at Dunboy Castle

The remains of a boat lie in the water by Dunboy Castle in Co Cork, Ireland. We were there last March, only days before 3 young men were killed when their car went into the water.

As you may know, I’m in Colorado along with most of Automattic. You can check out photos taken by me and my colleagues. It’s a beautiful area, but the thin air at such a high altitude is playing havoc with my body: breathlessness, a racing heart while lying down, sinuses out of whack, the after effects of 3 drinks feels like a heavy night of boozing.

Budget Day today in Ireland. If I don’t catch the RTE coverage of it live I’ll watch Twitter and check the headlines after.

Aperture	ƒ/5
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	22mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/50s

The chains of fishing

Chains on a quayside in Schull, near where yesterday’s shot was taken, I think.

I’m in Colorado, at 9,00ft. The air is noticeably thinner here. Won’t be any running about or physical exercise for a few days!

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/80s

Fishing rope and tackle

Fishing tackle in Co Cork somewhere. Can’t remember where now! Love the texture of this sort of equipment, especially in black and white.

Aperture	ƒ/5
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/60s

Arson attack on Blarney Garda Station

On Friday morning around 5am the Gardai on duty at Blarney Garda Station were called away on what turned out to be a hoax. Unfortunately while they were out the Garda station was attacked, the front door kicked down and firebombs thrown into the rooms downstairs. The building itself is quite old and burned quickly. Luckily the blaze was seen by a security guard from a nearby hotel or much more damage could have been done.

The building is unusable now of course. A Garda has been posted outside since, and this afternoon forensics were examining the site.

More coverage: Irish Times, Tribune, Herald.

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	72mm
ISO	1000
Shutter speed	1/100s

The Green House

The Green House, a small cafe in Blarney near Blarney Castle. It was previously the local Post Office but is now quite nice I’m told. Haven’t been in there yet.

Blarney Garda Station was set alight last night. I half heard something on the radio about it and confirmed it when Gordon replied to my Tweet on the matter. I hope to get some shots later, even with the horrible weather outside!

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	400
Shutter speed	1/80s

QE2 Funnel in the Sky

The funnel of the Queen Elizabeth 2 looms over Cobh as seen from near the Commodore Hotel.

Aperture	ƒ/14
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	88mm
ISO	400
Shutter speed	1/500s

Queen Elizabeth 2 in Cobh

The QE2 docked in Cobh last Thursday. This was shot at the bottom of steps down to the water where seaweed made footing precarious. I saw a few people venture down the steps but none went further than half way down. The tide was well out so I was maybe 3m below the quayside, standing in wet and slippery seaweed. The risks I take to get a photo!

Oh yeah, there’s already something gone bust in my new Canon 40D. The pop up flash refuses to pop up unless I prise it open with a fingernail. It tries a few times, gives up and issues an Error 99 and needs to be switched off and on. The same happened to my Canon 20D, but I’m surprised the 40D didn’t last a bit longer ..

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	21mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/125s

Queen Elizabeth 2

Luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 tied up at the quayside in Cobh, Co Cork last Thursday. This was moments before she cast off. You can see a tug in the background of this image.

It was bitterly cold down on the quay, but we were lucky that the evening sun cast a lovely golden glow over everything.

PS. some photography links: The Right Frame of Mind, Design Star, Join a stock photog on a photoshoot.
PPS. Just back from the camera club. This image came second overall in the digital section of tonight’s open photo competition. It drew with another image, on equal points. Chuffed!

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	200mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/250s

Carvery Lunch

Carvery Lunch, the fast food of “proper food” IMO. Many will be going to pubs today for their Sunday lunch and it’ll be carvery on offer. Nothing wrong with it of course, but some people are snobs about eating out and want food delivered to their table. Considering the price of carvery food, I can see their point. It’s generally the same price as food in a restaurant, so why not eat somewhere else?

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	10mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/40s

Flying the Irish Tricolour on the QE2

The Queen Elizabeth 2 is a British ship, and it’s likely that many of the passengers were British too. I spotted one large Union Jack flag draped over a railing and people on the ship waved mini Union Jack flags too. That sort of gets under the skin of many Irish people.

A huge crowd had gathered on the quayside at Cobh. A band was playing and people cheered and waved as the ship departed. The atmosphere was great but when the Irish Tricolour appeared on the roof of the ship, being waved by a young man, the crowd let out a huge cheer, and whistled and clapped in appreciation.
They were still waving the Irish flag as the ship left the harbour. I spotted them after she turned!

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	88mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/100s

QE2 Leaving Cork

The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2, flagship of the Cunard Line, docked for the last time in Cobh yesterday and left this evening just after 6pm. Here she is after turning in Cork Harbour and seconds before she increased speed and left the harbour for good.

In 2009, she will become a floating hotel in Dubai. A fitting ending for a luxury ship that has plied the waters of the world for the last 39 years.

I took over 300 shots of the Queen Elizabeth 2 today and filled almost 4GB of space with RAW images. In hindsight, many of the images would have been fine as Jpeg files but I had the space, so I used it. I hope to upload a gallery of my favourite images tomorrow.

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/80s

Tir na nOg ar Oilean Chleire

Tir na nOg is the house on the right of this photo. It’s a house that Colaiste Ciaran, an Irish summer school on the island, rents during the summer and where I spent a number of weeks years and years ago. The long, low building attached to the left is a canteen.

An Oige have a large hostel further down, near the stony beach. I remember looking with curiosity and longing at the kayaks in a nearby shed. Us students never got anything quite as exciting as those!

Aperture	ƒ/9
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/200s