CLOGHER EVENING

Photos of Clogher. I often visit Clogher Beach, being not far from my home. Many people, including myself, are attracted here in rough windy weather, because this is the place to get really big wild rough waves. But this was a very calm evening, with disappointing grey cloud cover. I was driving past, intending to go somewhere else, but a window of interesting light brought me down to this Beach.

It was particularly this skein of mist illuminated by the sun that attracted me. However it didn’t last long.

I have taken hundreds of photos here, so it’s hard to find something different to capture. It’s usually a matter of finding something different about the light or the weather conditions.

The Island in the distance, behind the mist, is Inis Tuaisceart, which many of you would have seen in my previous photos, It’s one of the Blasket Islands group and is also commonly known as the Sleeping Giant, or locally more likely called the Fear Marbh (Dead Man).

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There is a nice little sandy beach here, but my photos above are showing the rocky end.

I took a walk along the Cosán na nÉighe cliff walk, a favourite walk of mine. It was so calm and peaceful. The water can be really wild here. Below is an earlier one I took in some rougher weather, for comparison.

Some of these rocks and Islands have become so familiar to me that they are almost like old friends – friends I have known through life’s trials and tribulations – theirs and mine!

I love this little inlet with the triangular rock, echoing the shape of the Tiaracht Island beyond. Here is another earlier photo in some wild weather, below.

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The rocks were surprisingly detailed and colourful in the flat dim light, given a little extra exposure here, with no tripod; so a little less sharp than I would like. Yes, I’m lazy about carrying a tripod, making do with hand-held or some fence posts. The majestic and magnetic Sybil Head is in the above shot.

At Cuas ne nÉighe, in this shot above, with the Three Sisters in view.

The sun peeped out to say goodnight, briefly, before quietly dropping down below the horizon.

Goodnight!

Many more of my Sleeping Giant images, seen from different parts of the Peninsula, can be accessed here

I really appreciate your visit, thank you.

GOODBYE THRIFT, HELLO CHAMOMILE

I set out to take some photos in the late evening sun, as I have done many times before. Not really sure where I would go to get something different from the previous hundreds – or thousands of shots I’ve taken in this area of the Dingle Peninsula where I live, I drove my van along the road until I came to Clogher Beach. It was a beautiful, sunny and calm evening and I liked the look of Clogher as I approached, so I parked up there.

I set out on the cliff walk from the beach to Cuas na nEighe. Some of you may recognise the place from my previous posts. I hoped to get some different images.

goodbye thrift refers to the sea pinks, also called thrifts. In previous posts I have shown the amazing swathes and clumps of these gorgeous pink flowers that festoon the cliffs in this area. Now they have turned brown and finished flowering for this year. Gone, but not forever. The thrill has definitely not gone, now that instead of thrift there are wonderful chamomile blossoms proliferating all along the cliff tops.

The Island of Inis Tuaisceart (The Sleeping Giant) is above.

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The Tiaracht is the Island above.

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As you can see, the thrift is still there in profusion, but not much pink there now, it’s mostly brown, but still quite attractive with the sunlight catching the tips of them.

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Now I have Sybil Head (Ceann Sibéal) in view, above.

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It was the way the low evening sunlight caught the tops of the flowers and grasses that caught my interest that evening. Even the way the dock seed heads above were illuminated, seemed really beautiful to me.

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A closer look at the Sleeping Giant, above.

A sheep posed obligingly, in front of Sybil Head.

Well I seem to have such a lot of images to show – far too many for one post. I’ve decided to leave the others which include the sunset from this walk for my next post.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog. There are many images – photos and paintings from the Clogher area on my website. It would be great if you would check it out!

HAZY EVENING SUNLIGHT

At Clogher Beach, on the Dingle Peninsula, where dozens of people go for the turbulent water and big wave photos. Yesterday was not particularly rough, but the tide was high and the sun was low when I passed and decided to do a detour to check out the photo possibilities. I found the evening light had a lovely colour and there was an attractive watery haze in the distant atmosphere. Here are several photos of this view, with the island of Inis Tuaisceart (one of the Blasket Island group) in view. This island is commonly known as the Sleeping Giant, or locally as the Fear Marbh (Dead Man).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos and paintings of Clogher Beach can be seen on this link:

https://www.helene-brennan.com/tag/clogher+beach

I appreciate your visit. Do come again. I have a huge backlog of photos and half completed drafts which I hope to try to get published in the near future.

TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING – The Schoolhouse from the Ryan’s Daughter Movie.

Sometimes I enjoy taking photos that show how things change over time. The schoolhouse from the Ryan’s Daughter movie is one such subject that has caught my attention.

On this wonderful awe inspiring peninsula in 1968 a film crew from MGM descended to make a movie, directed by David Lean, which, though not immediately popular with the critics, became a huge box office success. Many local people were extras in the movie, or worked in some capacity for the film company and still have many memories and stories of the events of that time. Imagine how exciting it was to the people in an area which, at that time, in spite of its exceptional natural beauty was economically struggling. The exposure of this marvellous place to a wider world contributed greatly to the increase in visitors the Dingle Peninsula has enjoyed over the years since then.

Most of the set built for the story was destroyed when filming was finished, but the schoolhouse still remains, in an increasingly ruinous state, perched on the coast of Dunquin and with marvellous views of the Blasket Islands. Most visitors don’t even know it’s there. The name Kirrary National School still to be seen there means nothing to most people. (Kirrary was a fictitious place.) There has been talk of restoring the building. That could be interesting.

Since I started to prepare this blog I discovered that there is another wordpress blogger who has written on this topic. For more in depth information and images of the schoolhouse from the time of filming, see  SMcP Blogfeast’s very interesting blog:

https://blogfeast.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/saving-ryans-daughter/

You can check out this on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan%27s_Daughter

Also to see more images from the Dunquin area of the Dingle Peninsula please visit my website:

http://helene-brennan.com/tag/dunquin

Here are some photos taken in October this year (2015) as well as some taken in September 2013. As you can see the timbers have now been ripped from the roof with the storms that have raged since.

VIEW FROM MOUNT EAGLE

On the path coming down Mount Eagle, the views are stunning. Here you can see Dunquin and the Island of Inis Tuaisceart, (The Sleeping Giant) one of the islands of the Blasket group, off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula, South West Ireland.

Please check out my other Dunquin photos on http://helene-brennan.com/tag/dunquin

CLOGHER

One of the most wonderful places to be on the Dingle Peninsula. Inis Tiaracht  and Inis Tuaisceart (Sleeping Giant) – both islands of the Blasket group, are on the horizon, left to right.

Please see more of this area on my website:

http://www.helene-brennan.com/tag/clogher

Great Blasket Island, Part 3

As promised, this is Part 3 of my post on Great Blasket Island, which is off the Dingle peninsula, County Kerry, south-west Ireland.

Blasket Islands from mainland

The gorgeous visual beauty of the island and the glorious views provide great delights for visitors. The familiar landmarks on the mainland – Mount Eagle, Cruach Mharhain, Sybil Head, Mount Brandon, Dunmore Head… and of course the other islands of the Blasket group all conspire to present a feast for the eyes and soul.  Walking around and along the length of the island is such a pleasure and a privilege. Sitting on a rock in a heathery hump, observing the slow passage of feathery, fluffy and puffy clouds  and the swell of the blue ocean with ribbons of white trailing the contours of the land, while enjoying a simple sandwich and contemplating the splendour of our natural environment, cannot fail to re-affirm your values (if needed).

The island Inis Tuaisceart – also known as The Sleeping Giant, or The Dead Man, as seen from Great Blasket Island. The sleeping man shape not so obvious from this view.

The island, like many remote islands, has its own unique ecology. Wildlife on the island is a special reward, especially so for those who are experts in the fields or ornithology or biology etc. But even for those of us who are no experts, but who have an appreciation for the wonder of all the earth’s creatures, there is great enchantment at even the sight of a humble rabbit, of which there are many on the island.

Blasket Rabbit

I recently caught a fleeting glimpse of a hare – scampering away at the speed of light. Hares are not indigenous to the island, having been introduced by man’s interference with nature for his own dubious reasons.

Nice quiet place for a nap – no tourists down there!

There are sheep kept on the island, and a few donkeys are left to roam free most of their time, much to the delight of visiting children. I once watched with amazement while a donkey led his harem of females to the field of choice to settle down for the night, and then proceeded to move all the sheep well away from that field. He walked and walked, his head nodding up and down and the sheep all across the fields in the area in front of him slowly moved towards the setting sun, and when he was satisfied that the sheep were far enough away, he walked back to rejoin his ladies. I concluded that this was his habit at the time, and the sheep probably knew the drill.

Group hug

The seals are a big hit with visitors. They are usually seen just off shore during the day and when the visitors leave they come up onto the beach. They are usually too shy to hang about when humans arrive. At night they make some very eerie sounds, their howling and wailing being reminiscent of the stories I heard as a child of ghosts and banshees. Thankfully, I don’t believe in ghosts, so it doesn’t worry me.

All seal eyes on the human visitors on dry land.They appear very untrusting – not surprising as there have been reports of mass slaughters of seals on these islands.

The nights also bring the strange, unmelodic calls of the manx shearwater as they return in their thousands to their colony under cover of darkness.  This is one of the largest colonies in Europe.  On my recent stay on the island I did not hear so many, and whether their numbers are diminishing or if they just vary their itinerary or timing according to weather and lighting conditions I’m not sure. There is also a major colony of Storm Petrels – most of which nest on the Blasket Island of Inis Tuaisceart. This is the largest colony of the Storm Petrels in the world. The mink on Gt. Blasket Island are seen as a serious threat to these ground nesting creatures.

Butterfly, quietly resting in the grasses on the island.

There are no rats on the island, and of course most people would want to keep it that way. There is no landing pier there, and there has been much controversy about whether or not to build one. The larger vessels that could land there could potentially carry rats or even other creatures that would disturb the delicate balance of nature. The ferries cannot moor at the small rough concrete slip so passengers have to climb down a ladder into a dinghy, which drops them off at the slip. This slip hangs on the end of a very rough rocky and steep approach to the more smooth and grassy but also steep path that leads up and around through the village. Those visitors who have some mobility or fitness issues may  find their enjoyment of the island somewhat compromised.

The village is built on quite a steep slope.

But aside from these inconveniences, I have no doubt that all visitors are glad they made the effort. Information about the islands history and heritage is available from friendly guides on the island, and there is usually plenty of time for a trip to the magical beach, or maybe even a long walk along the island, before returning to the ferry.

Walking on the island, with the mainland in view

It’s with great reluctance that I leave the island and I always intend to return soon. That’s not always possible. Now that October is here, I don’t expect any more ferries until next year. One day, I’ll get my own boat!

More photos and also paintings on my website:

http://helene-brennan.com/c62-blasket-islands-paintings and

http://helene-brennan.com/c53-blasket-islands-photographs

The Blasket Centre in Dunquin is well worth a visit:

The Blasket Centre/Ionad an Bhlascaoid

For more information on Flora and Fauna and other Blasket Islands information see:

http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/blaskets.html

For bird lovers:

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie

http://www.kerrybirding.blogspot.ie/