Under the Insurgents’ Memorial
Shot from below, the memorial’s three bronze wings blot out most of the sky. A man in a grey hoodie sat on the granite wall at the base, hunched over something in his lap, tiny against the thing behind him. He’d picked the one spot where the monument stops being a monument and turns into…
St. Patrick’s Night on the water
The fireworks went up from a barge moored out in Cobh harbour, and the launch point sits right there at water level, a small fountain of sparks and smoke below the main burst. Unfortunately the barge drifted with the current, and it ended up quite far down the town, probably away from the main crowds!
The Last Days of the Loretto Extension
The ugly monstrosity that was an extension to the Loretto School in Youghal, in 2023. It was finally demolished in January this year.
Pop In, I Can Help
The pharmacist in the window is beaming and offering to help. “Pop in, I can help & advise.” I don’t think this man checking his phone is a customer.
Lucky Leprechauns
The performing leprechauns are back, sitting next to the new raised flower beds that were installed by Cork City Council recently. They love the attention but they are loud.
Old Port, New Skyline
The stone warehouses along Custom House Quay have sat behind their green doors for as long as I can remember. Behind them the glass offices construction of the Railyard Apartments tower climbs up, with two cranes over the work. Two eras. Old and new.
Three People, Three Phones, One Street
Opera Lane on a Tuesday morning, and three people in a row are looking at their phones.
This Way Up
Three red things line up in this one. First the red arrow, a sticker on one of the big cardboard boxes in the Arnotts window display, pointing across at her. Then a red and white stick taped to the glass at an angle, aimed down at her too. And the red case on her phone,…
Christmas Eve on the Lee
Christmas Eve in Cork, and the fog had settled over the south channel of the Lee and stayed put all morning. It was 2005, and the banks of the river looked very different. The old tax office still stood on Sullivan’s Quay, and the Peace Park opposite still had trees and overgrown shrubs hanging over…
The Last Mass at St. Augustine’s
It was announced a few months ago that St. Augustine’s Church in Cork City would close on July 12th, with a final mass at 11:30 that morning. I arrived around 11:20, curious to see what it would be like, only to see every space on every bench taken and people standing at the back of…
Working the Façade
The manager had the best spot on the street: feet planted, hand on hip, watching three other men do the actual work. Two were up in a green cherry picker prodding at the glass of the HSBC building, and a third leaned on a rail inside and watched them. That’s two layers of supervision for…
Casting Off the Pier
Two anglers cast off the end of Ballycotton pier as the sun set. The harbour crane stood black against the sky, and one man’s rod bent back mid-cast, blurred by the long exposure. The cloud broke into pink and orange over the headland to the west, with the houses along the shore already lit. It…