People come from far and wide to see the beautiful Irish countryside and it’s no wonder. There’s such a wide range of different scenery that you could spend many a day discovering new beauty spots. This was shot near Dunmanway in West Cork. If you look very carefully you can see the wind power generators…

The National Monument, Grand Parade Cork was erected in 1906 to commemorate those who died in uprisings against the British in 1867 and 1798. It’s one of the few parts of the Grand Parade that hasn’t changed much despite all the redevelopment of the city.

Ballygarvan is 1 mile that way. Shot up by Cork Airport while trying to get a decent shot of a plane landing or taking off. I eventually moved to the other end of the air field where I got the shots I posted last week!

I went searching and found a few pages describing how to shoot the sun during a solar eclipse. All warned against looking at the sun directly. So, I ignored all that advice and got out my 75-300mm lens and grabbed a couple of shots of the sun with a chunk bitten out of it by…

You’re in town and desperately looking for a parking place. Where do you go? All the on-street parking has either been removed because of road works or taken by everyone who went shopping at 9am. Just look up. There’s a multi storey carpark somewhere near you. Probably. Front of the car park on The Grand…

The Western Star in Cork was a favourite haunt of UCC students for many a year but now it looks like it’ll be demolished! Looks like development has been on the cards for quite a while: Permission was granted to Tom O’Riordan carry out development namely, permission for part demolition of existing public house and…

Will Ryanair face a bumpy landing this year? Shots taken at Cork Airport of a Ryanair flight coming in to land. There are two small cottages just down the road from where I stood with children playing in the garden of one. I guess you get used to the engine whine after a while.

Pobal ar Aire. Community on Alert. This is (was?) a scheme designed to help neighbourhoods help themselves by volunteering to keep an eye out for trouble makers or lawlessness. The local police are then informed. It seems to work well, these signs are dotted all around the country, but in Bantry it looks like they’re…

A corner shop in the English Market has a simple but effective way of shutting up shop for the day. Put a broom stick across the entrance! The English Market is completely roofed over and locked tight at night so I guess traders feel reasonably safe with minimal security precautions. That’s what’s wonderful about the…

A page from a child’s “colour in the picture” book provides a stark subject for this photo. Is that red blood on the wheels of that car? Spotted on the ground somewhere in Cork City.

Both Phil and Geraldine listed this blog in their “Arte y Pico” award list which gave me a warm glow because (other than the River Lee photos earlier in the week) comments have been far and few between here for quite a while. Unfortunately I’m going to break the chain and not link to the…

A few weeks ago Saor Patrol played in Cork on Patrick’s Street, in front of an appreciative audience who clapped and cheered to the drums and beat of this lively Scottish band. Unfortunately they were there to publicize an event, “Mental Health Awareness Event” organised by the Church of Scientology, or at least a front…