There were 6 or 7 people fishing in Ballycotton. Most were standing on the pier, but these two had climbed up on the pier wall. Judging by the bag of fish they had, it was a good choice of location.

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…

The tide was very far out when we visited Ballycotton last week, so I wandered out on the rocks, carefully avoiding the slippery seaweed, and took a few photos.

Many years ago, in 2002, I visited Crete for a sun holiday. It was the first sun holiday I’d ever been on, so quite a shock for this young man from Cork. The photo above was taken in a small village above the resort we stayed in. The tour operator had shared ominous warnings that…

The golden hour at sunset is spectacular but I love the amazing colours you might be lucky to see after the sun has set. Such happened on Thursday night in Ballycotton. This is a panoramic photo of several photos stitched together to make one larger one. The dark, dramatic cloud was too wide for my…

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.

As you may have seen over the last few days I was taking photos of the boats moored in Kinsale Harbour. Until another boat came along and sped past, disturbing the scene and rocking everything about. Still a lovely evening there, and it was about time to move on anyway. 🙂

A flower growing out of the crack between two blocks on the quayside in Kinsale, Co Cork. There it was, growing in the unlikeliest of places, just doing its thing right in the middle of all the grey.

Someone walking past a sail in Kinsale made for a nice slow-motion intentional camera movement photo.

I visited Kinsale recently with Blarney Photography Club. Many photos were taken all around the town, but I went down the quay to start with the boats mooored nearby.