Blarney Castle, and Autumn colours in October 2020.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 19mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/100s |
Tag Archives: irishblogs
The red cobbles
The new Shaky Bridge (Shakey Bridge?), or Daly’s Bridge, is a huge improvement over the old. The lighting makes it stand out, and it still has the shakes like the old one!
I love the cobbles on the ground nearby but the ugly concrete support under the walkway up to it leaves something to be desired. 🙁
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 320 |
| Shutter speed | 4s |
A Bright Spot in the Garden
Sun Shines Through the Trees
The sun has set on 2020 and I finish the year with what is probably my favourite photo of the year.
The sun shines through trees heavy with Autumn coloured leaves, not yet touched by the harsh winter winds back in October this year. Photo made in the grounds of Blarney Castle where I expect to take many more walks since we are only allowed exercise within 5km of home. That remains in place until the end of January because of rising Covid19 numbers in the country. Third lockdown of the year unfortunately.
I have made roughly half the number of photos I normally shoot in a year. In April I took one photo with my camera. The number of photos I took with my phone wasn’t much different from previous years but I know for certain that I took many more photos of my cats and dog this year!
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 70mm |
| ISO | 800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/160s |
Sunset on 2020
Michael Mansfield of Ardmore, Co Waterford
Many years ago I published a few photos of Ardmore in Co Waterford. The post received a number of comments about one particular photo of a gentleman on a motorbike. His name was Michael Mansfield and unfortunately he passed away in 2009 but that hasn’t stopped the occasional visitor from leaving a comment since then, the most recent being yesterday.
That comment prompted me to look up the photos I made that day in 2005 to find more photos of Michael Mansfield. Here are the three I found, including the one that appeared in the original post.
Reading the comments I wish I had stopped to talk to Michael. He seems to have been quite the character around Ardmore!
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | CYBERSHOT |
| Focal length | 25.1mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
A Robin at the Castle
Red Sky in the Morning
The Swans of Blarney Castle
Blarney Lake lies at the far end of the gardens surrounding Blarney Castle but is well worth a visit if you’re in the gardens. I’m not sure how often swans are there but these two curious and friendly birds were there yesterday.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | DSC-RX100M4 |
| Focal length | 25.7mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
Fun day at Fota Wildlife Park
Earlier this year, between lockdowns, I visited Fota Wildlife Park for a nice couple of hours walking around the park looking at the animals. No chance now, Fota is more than 5km from my home!
The Disappearance of Fungie
The disappearance of a single solitary dolphin in the year 2020 would seem to be small news among the horrible things that have happened this year. The pandemic is still raging. Ireland is in lockdown again. People are dying from Covid-19.
However, on October 20th it was reported that Fungie, a dolphin that first appeared in Dingle Bay, Co Kerry in 1983 was missing for 7 days.
For as long as I’ve been aware of Dingle, it has been synonymous with Fungie. He was hard to miss as there’s a statue in the town, and several boats lined the quays ready to take visitors out to see the friendly dolphin.
I went out once in 2017, and I saw him break the surface a few times but he wasn’t in the mood for playing at the time. You should have seen the packed boats of tourists trying to grab a glimpse of him. Thankfully our boat wasn’t as busy!
The last time I saw him was in August this year. My family and I walked out to Hussey’s Folly on a glorious evening where we sat in the grass watching the water, accompanied by several boats and kayakers.
There was the occasional shout when someone spotted him, and the delighted laughs and exclamations made it all worth it.
The next night we walked out by the small beach at Bín Bán. As night fell we heard splashes in the still water and spotted Fungie swimming back and forth just ten to twenty metres from shore. All was quiet. There was only my family and a passer-by around. It was very special hearing his splashes in the water.
Paddy Ferriter, keeper of the old lighthouse pictured above, was the first person to spot Fungie in 1983. He tells his story in a short clip here:
My photos of Fungie don’t do him justice. Follow these links for more:
Washington Post article on his disappearance.
There are wonderful videos of Fungie on this Facebook page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7sEG6WhPM
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 300mm |
| ISO | 250 |
| Shutter speed | 1/320s |
Morning Walks around Blarney
Covid-19 Lockdown began again in Ireland for six weeks until December 1st. Hopefully people don’t go crazy drinking and partying in December thinking the Coronavirus is gone, but of course they will. Bet we’ll have another lockdown in January.
We’re restricted to exercising within 5km of our homes now, which is ridiculous when you live in a village but obviously makes sense if you live in a build up urban area. I get out for a quick walk most mornings around Blarney and the sun rising is always a nice experience.
The Mill built an outside dining area for customers and even had nice fake trees with these flowers dotted around the area. When lockdown was announced they pull down part of it, including these trees. Hopefully they’ll be back in December.
The leaves of trees in the carpark of the Woollen Mills in Blarney as the sun rose.
Waterloo Joinery and other signs point the way up Waterloo Road.
Mushrooms growing in a tree stump in the grounds of the Woollen Mills.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | DSC-RX100M4 |
| Focal length | 12.06mm |
| ISO | 5000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/40s |