Inishmacsaint High Cross


Inishmacsaint High Cross – unknown date, possibly 12th century

Inishmacsaint High Cross

Small window in the ruined church beside the cross

Inishmacsaint High Cross

A monastery was founded by St Ninnid in the 6th century here

Inishmacsaint High Cross
Inishmacsaint Island, Lower Lough Erne, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland

Ballybriest Court Tomb revisited

Carnanbane Court Tomb
Ballybriest Court Tomb – aka Carnanbane, Co Derry, Northern Ireland

Ballybriest Court Tomb
Entrance to the western gallery

Ballybriest Court Tomb
The western gallery from the back

Ballybriest Court Tomb
The entrance to the gallery and the western court

Ballybriest Court Tomb
The remains of the court at the western gallery

Ballybriest Court Tomb
The ruin of Carnabane (Ballybriest) Double Court Tomb

Moneygashel Cashel

Moneygashel Cashel
The track leading to Moneygashel stone fort

Moneygashel Cashel
Moneygashel Cashel, Co Cavan, Ireland

Moneygashel Cashel
The entrance to the cashel

Moneygashel Cashel
Inside the cashel with a view to the south

Moneygashel Cashel
The building attached to the wall of Moneygashel Stone Fort

St Mura’s Cross

Fahan Cross Slab aka St. Mura’s Cross, Co Donegal, Ireland

The west face of the Fahan Mura Cross Slab

St. Mura's Cross aka Fahan Cross

The east face of the Fahan Mura Cross Slab

Small Fahan Cross

The small cross slab embedded into the wall at Fahan



Glencolmcille Turas Station 9

Glencolmcille Turas Station 9, Co Donegal, Ireland. The decorated northern face of the holed cross pillar

The stone is also known as Cloch an Aonaigh or the Stone of the Gathering

Casheltown Wedge Tomb

Casheltown Wedge Tomb
The three Wedge Tombs at the overgrown Chasheltown site. The 2 stones in the foreground are part of a kerb that encircles the tombs

Casheltown Wedge Tomb

Casheltown Wedge Tomb
The largest of the Casheltown Wedge Tombs with the smallest just to the right

Casheltown Wedge Tomb
The overgrown site in colour

Casheltown Wedge Tomb
The smallest of the tombs

Kilcar old church

Kilcar old church and graveyard
Kilcar old church and graveyard, Co Donegal, Ireland

Kilcar old church and graveyard

Kilcar old church and graveyard - Bullaun stone
The bullaun stone that sits in the ruin of Kilcar old church

Kilcar old church and graveyard

Kilcar old church and graveyard

Kilcar old church and graveyard - Grave slabs
Two of the numerous grave slabs that lie in the graveyard

Kilcar old church and graveyard - Grave slabs

 

Kilcar old church - Cairn and Holy Well

The Cairn and Holy Well in a field next to Kilcar old church

Kilcar old church - Cairn and Holy Well

The holy well flows into a bullaun stone or rock-basin

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

Killaghtee Cross

Killaghtee Cross
Slab with a carved Maltese cross inside a circle. The cross is thought to date from 650AD and mark the resting place of Aédh, an anchorite monk

Killaghtee Cross
Killaghtee Cross, Co Donegal, Ireland

Killaghtee old church
Killaghtee old church

Cú Chulainn’s Stone

Clochafarmore Standing Stone aka Cuchulain's Stone
Clochafarmore Standing Stone aka Cuchulain’s Stone, Co Louth, Ireland

Cú Chulainn's Stone
In the Irish saga the Táin Bó Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) Cú Chulainn (the hero of Ulster) is said to have tied himself to a standing stone when mortally wounded. While tied to the stone his enemies feared approaching thinking he lived until the battle goddess Morrigu (Morrígan) lands on his shoulder in the form of a raven. When sure he is dead they approach and Lugaid beheads Cú Chulainn whose sword falls and slices of Lugaid’s right hand, in revenge they cut off Cú Chulainn’s hand.

Rathlackan Court Tomb

Rathlackan Court Tomb 1
Rathlackan Court Tomb, Co Mayo, Ireland

Rathlackan Court Tomb 2

The east facing entrance to the gallery

Rathlackan Court Tomb 3

Rathlackan Court Tomb 4

The court from the east

Rathlackan Court Tomb 5

Looking down on the gallery entrance and first chamber

Rathlackan Court Tomb 6

The gallery as viewed from the back (west)

Glendalough Monastic City

St Kevin's Church and the round tower
St Kevin’s Church and Round Tower, Glendalough, Co Wicklow, Ireland

St Kevin's Church and the round tower
St Kevin’s Church and Round Tower, Glendalough

St Kevin's Church
St Kevin’s Church

Glendalough Round Tower
Glendalough Round Tower, Glendalough

Glendalough Round Tower
Glendalough Round Tower, Glendalough

Glendalough Reefert Church and cross
Glendalough Reefert Church and crosses, Glendalough Monastic City

Glendalough Reefert Church and cross
Glendalough Reefert Church and cross, Glendalough Monastic City

Glendalough Reefert Church
Glendalough Reefert Church

Glendalough Reefert Church
Glendalough Reefert Church

Glendalough Cathedral
Glendalough Cathedral

Glendalough Cathedral
Glendalough Cathedral

Glendalough Cathedral
Glendalough Cathedral

Glendalough Crosses

Nine crosses at Glendalough Monastic City
Reefert Cross

Reefert Cross, Glendalough, Co Wicklow, Ireland

Cross at Reefert Church ruin

Cross at Reefert Church ruin, Glendalough

Cross 1, Glendalough

Rough Cross at Reefert Church ruin, Glendalough

Cross 2, Glendalough

Broken Cross at Reefert Church ruin, Glendalough Monastic City

High Cross

High Cross (with broken shaft?), Glendalough

St Kevin's Cross

St Kevin’s Cross, Glendalough Monastic City

Cross 3, Glendalough

Three more broken crosses, Glendalough Monastic City

Cross 4, Glendalough

Cross 5, Glendalough

St Mochta’s House

St Mochta's House
St Mochta’s House, Louth, Co Louth, Ireland

St Mochta's House
St Mochta, a disciple of St Patrick, founded a monastery here in the early 6th century. The building here is thought to date to the 12th Century

St Mary’s Priory

St Mary's Priory
St Mary’s Priory, Louth, Co Louth, Ireland

St Mary's Priory
The 13th century church ruins are on the site of a monastery founded by St Mochta early in the 6th century

St Mary's Priory

St Mary's Priory

Atlantic Bar

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