Stroan Fountain

Stroan Fountain, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

Stroan Fountain

A natural spring feeds the fountain built ‘erected by subscription by permission of the Landlord Gervase Bushe. Designed and arranged by Thomas Seigne.’

The Rock of Dunamase – revisited

The Rock of Dunamase

The Rock of Dunamase, Co Laois, Ireland

The Rock of Dunamase black & white

Through the centuries The Rock of Dunamase was a place of fortification. During the Norman conquest of Ireland the rock was refortified and its these ruins that have survived.

The Rock of Dunamase black & white

The gate to Dunamase Castle ruins

Pinnacle Well

Pinnacle Well

Pinnacle Well, the Burren, Co Clare, Ireland

A housing was built over the well around 1860 giving it the appearance of a small church

Gleniff Horseshoe 2022

Gleniff Horseshoe - Waterfall

Gleniff Horseshoe – waterfall, Co Sligo, ireland

Gleniff Horseshoe - Old Cottage

One of two cottage ruins on the loop

Gleniff Horseshoe

The top of Gleniff Horseshoe

The top of Gleniff Horseshoe

Fairy Bridges, Bundoran

Fairy Bridges, Bundoran

Fairy Bridges, Tullan Strand, Bundoran, Co Donegal

Fairy Bridges

It is said that locals thought the natural sea arches were haunted by the fairies

Fairy Bridges, Tullan Strand

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern 2022

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern 2022

Halloween or Halowe’en comes from All Hallows Eve – The night before All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) which was the Christanisation of Samhain an ancient Celtic festival of celebration, feasting and connecting with ancestors at harvest time. Celebrated on October 31st, the half way point between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Ancient Celtic tradition marked this as a time when the barriers between the spiritual and physical worlds came down which marked it as a time for Fairies (Shee/Sidhe) and other malevolent beings. From here we get many of the pagan practices that continue to today. Irish and Scottish migrants took their traditions with them to America and America, well Americanised it.

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern 2022

Links to past Jack O’ Lanterns 2017 here https://www.tonyoneill.org/2017/10/25/traditional-jack-o-lantern-2017/ and 2016 here https://www.tonyoneill.org/2016/10/27/irish-jack-o-lantern/

Behy Cliffs

Cliffs, Co Mayo

Behy Cliffs, Co Mayo, Ireland (Opposite the Céide Fields Visitors Centre)

Cloughey

Free range eggs and potatoes for sale

Old buildings, Ardminnan Road, Cloughey (Cloughy) (Cloghy), Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland

Old buildings, Ardminnan Road, Cloughey (Cloughy) (Cloghy), Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland

The Burren revisited

The Burren landscape

The Burren, Co Clare, Ireland

The Burren landscape

2 previous visits to the Burren here https://www.tonyoneill.org/2017/05/10/the-burren-landscape/

Robertstown Cross

Robertstown Cross

Robertstown Graveyard Gate, Co Meath, Ireland

Robertstown Cross
Robertstown Cross at the bottom of the lane to the graveyard

Gleniff Horseshoe

Gleniff horseshoe cliffs
Gleniff Horseshoe, a scenic six-mile loop near Cliffoney, Co Sligo, Ireland

Gleniff horseshoe cliffs
A view of the Cliffs on the drive

Cottage ruin
Gleniff horseshoe cottage ruin

Gleniff waterfall
Small waterfall at the old mill ruins

Gleniff wood sculpture
Wood sculpture at the old mill ruins

Gleniff wood sculpture
More oddities

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh
Caves of Kesh, Keshcorran, Sligo, Ireland

Kesh Caves
In Irish mythology the caves of Kesh were believed to be an entrance to the the Otherworld. One story tells how, when on a hunt, Fionn mac Cumhaill, head of the Fianna, was put under enchantment by three witches along with a troop of his men. The witches were the daughters of Conaran of the supernatural race Tuatha de Danaan who ruled in the underworld of Keshcorran. As the witches prepared to kill their captives the last of the hunting party Goll mac Morna encounters them and in a hard fought engagement slices in half two witches then beheads them and gets the better of the third putting her into bondage. In exchange for her life she agrees to dissolve the enchantment on Fionn and his Fianna. Diarmuid and Gráinne are also said to have sought refuge in the caves as the lovers evade Fionn mac Cumhaill who Gráinne had been betrothed to. Another story tells how the high king of Ireland Cormac mac Airt was born at the foot of Keshcorran and reared by a she-wolf with her cubs in the caves.

Keshcorran

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh

Caves of Kesh

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern 2017

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern

Last year I made a couple of Jack O’ Lanterns and kept them… they shriveled up and shrunk, that’s them beside the new one I made for Hallowe’en 2017. You can see how one of the shriveled ones looked originally here https://www.tonyoneill.org/2016/10/27/irish-jack-o-lantern/

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern

Traditional Jack O’ Lantern

Atlantic Bar

Atlantic Bar
Atlantic Bar, Portrush, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland – Kodak HIE infrared film

Woodlawn House Follies

Woodlawn Tower House folly
Woodlawn Tower House folly and fake entrance

Gothic style wall and arch folly
Gothic style wall and arch folly

Woodlawn entrance folly
Woodlawn fake entrance and Round Tower folly

Woodlawn Round Tower folly
Round Tower folly built circa 1900. Woodlawn, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, Ireland

Woodlawn Tower House (Gate House) folly
Gate lodge built circa 1850 in the style of a Tower House

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher
Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Ireland

Cliffs of Moher
At their lowest point the cliffs are 120 metres rising to over 200 metres at their highest

O'Brien's Tower
O’Brien’s Tower at the Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher sign
Cliffs of Moher – Wild Atlantic Way sign