kimbofo

Dublin Bay

Place: Dublin Bay, Dublin, Ireland.
Date: March 27, 2009.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

How beautiful and sunny and tropical does this scene look? It was taken from the top of Dalkey Hill from where you can gain the most magnificent 360-degree views across all of Dublin and beyond.

You can view all my pictures here.

A quick drive through the Dublin Mountains

All photographs taken: Dublin Mountains, Ireland.
Date: Tuesday November 18, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ5.

We've just been on a four-day trip to Ireland -- for a family event -- in which we split our time between Dublin and County Wexford.

Yesterday, en route to Dublin Airport from Curracloe in Wexford, we took a short detour through the Dublin Mountains, which are south of the city and stretch into County Wicklow.

The scenery, wild and uninhabited, in this part of the world is stunning. And the colours, ranging from the granite grey of the rocky outcrops to the sunburnt orange of the heather, were amazing.

These photographs, which I took using T's camera through the car window, don't do the area's rugged beauty the justice it deserves.

A dip in the Irish Sea

Place: Curracloe, Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Date: Saturday April 21, 2007.
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W1.

Take five Irish brothers and one Canadian, dare them to go swimming in the Irish Sea one April afternoon and what do you get?

Hypothermia.

On the road, or four seasons in one afternoon

All pictures taken: County Meath, Republic of Ireland. Date: Sunday April 22, 2007. 
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W1.

When I stepped into a hire car last Wednesday evening, after a short one-hour flight from London Heathrow to Dublin Airport, it was the first time I'd been inside a vehicle since this time last year. It feels funny to now measure the passing of time -- or the chapters of my life -- by the short, intermittent periods in which I have access to a motor car.

Because I live in London I am used to getting around by bicycle or public transport. These days the only time I get to travel by car is when I am on holiday and we have rented a vehicle for the duration. This was the case last week.

After a short two-night stay in County Wexford, about two hours' drive south of Dublin, we headed back to the city outskirts on Saturday to stay with T's brother. Yesterday afternoon we had some time to kill before our flight back home, so we decided to go on a little drive through neighbouring County Meath.

The weather was mild and muggy. As we stood on the Hill of Tara, an ancient site that was once the seat of the High King of Ireland, we watched the clouds scudding past, becoming darker and darker with each passing moment.