IrelandUpClose

Robert Ardill on a photoshoot in Provence, France.

West of Ireland: Galway: Connemara.

A view of Doughruagh mountain on the left and Diamond Hill on the right. Benbaun, part of the Twelve Ben range, can be seen behind Diamond Hill. The mountains in the far distance are the Maumturks.

The image was taken from near Letterfrack on a late May evening.

Bog cotton and rhododendron are lush at this time of year.

http://www.irelandupclose.com/Image-of-Connemara-Doughruagh-and-Diamond-Hill--M21783--Ireland-Photos--Galway.php

IrelandUpClose
I was up on Slieve Gullion in Northern Ireland on the 23rd December with some friends. It's a 500m high hill near Newry in south County Armagh, just north of the border with County Louth in the Republic. At the top is a wonderful megalithic passage tomb. Legend has it that the Cailleach Beara (a witch who transforms into a hare) tricked Finn McCool into jumping into the Mountain's lake, from which he emerges an old and withered man. The Fianna force the Cailleach Beara to restore Finn back to his former self (but his hair remains white as an old man for the rest of his life).

At 4:00pm the setting sun enters the chamber in the passage tomb. It's an experience I will never forget - we had given up hope that we would witness this but as if by magic a cloud that was covering the sun melted away and the wonderful golden light flooded the chamber. You can see some more photos here http://www.newgrange.com/slieve-gullion.htm

Photo of: East Coast of Ireland: Meath: Boyne at Stachallan.

http://www.irelandupclose.com/Image-of-Boyne-Stachallan-Winter-Evening--W40099--Ireland-Photos--Meath.php

This is one of my favourite views of the Boyne, taken from the lovely medieval Broad Boyne Bridge at Stachallan, and this particular photograph is one of my favourite ones of this scene. I love the lonely tree overhanging the river, the mist in the background and the last glimmer of the setting-sun.