The lighthouse on the island just off the coast by Ballycotton is always a nice subject for a photo. The night we were there, we hoped to photograph the moon rising behind the lighthouse but a large bank of cloud covered the horizon.

A slightly battered boat in Ballycotton, Co Cork.

These intimate details from a single fishing boat in Ballycotton harbour tell the story of Ireland’s working coastline better than any wide-angle vista could manage. Every weathered rope, rusty chain, and salt-stained life ring speaks to the daily reality of earning a living from the sea. Ballycotton’s fishing fleet primarily targets lobster, crab, and various…

The RNLI flag flies in Ballycotton Harbour. The RNLI operates one of Ireland’s busiest lifeboat stations at Ballycotton, which launched 57 times in 2023 alone, rescuing 49 people and assisting 67 others. The station operates an all-weather lifeboat capable of handling the most challenging sea conditions off the Cork coast. Ballycotton RNLI has a proud…

Ballycotton Lighthouse as pictured from the end of the pier at the village of the same name last Thursday night. It was a lovely evening. Warm and with just enough clouds to make for a spectacular sunset. The Moon was due to rise almost behind the island here, but a huge cloud bank covered the…

It was a lovely evening in Ballycotton last Thursday, and a group of teenagers were making the most of it, jumping off the pier into the water and enjoying life.

Copper Point Lighthouse sits at the end of Long Island outside the town of Schull in Co. Cork. If you take the boat from Schull to Cape Clear, you’ll pass by here!

A fishing boat with the registration code C353P sits moored in the low-tide mud in Sherkin Island. It sits opposite the island library and has been a feature of the island for as long as I remember. However, it was missing during a visit in 2017, and this gallery of Sherkin Island photos shows an…