Tag Archives: Nature

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.

The Swans of Blarney Castle

The Swans of Blarney Castle

Aperture ƒ/5.6
Camera DSC-RX100M4
Focal length 25.7mm
ISO 125
Shutter speed 1/320s

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
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