If I’m not wrong, one of the biggest claims to fame of Youghal is that there were a few shots of the 1950’s version of Moby Dick taken in this town (instead of New Bedford, which had changed too much in the previous century – in other words, Youghal had not changed much). The town is a historic […]
Exploring Ireland
Glengarriff Reserve in winter
This indigenous forest and ancient woodland is named after the town’s located close to. The Glengarriff Reserve is just west of Bantry Bay (the bay can be seen from Lady Bantry’s Lookout, pictured below) and has a few different paths and walking trails that lead through different areas, moorland, meadow, bog and forest. Look out for […]
Inchy
Well worth the drive west, Inchydoney is a lovely beach on the good and bad weather days. It’s actually part of an island that’s connected to the mainland by two causeways. If you’re looking for a good spot for lunch or a pint, visit the quaint nearby town of Clonakilty. We were lucky to stop at […]
Hore Abbey
If you didn’t notice, the photo above has a cow in the foreground that is unfortunately making a wee. They just have a knack for doing that kind of thing when there’s a camera pointing at them. It’s not my favourite photo but I thought I’d just leave it there for effect (whatever that […]
The Rock of Cashel
There’s a bit of mythology surrounding the history of how the rock that the fortress is built on was formed. The story is that St. Patrick banished the Devil from a mountain about 30 kilometres to the north. As far as I understand, it seems like the Devil bit that mountain (for whatever reason), causing a gap in the mountain. That […]
Forest & Lough
Not far from Baltimore is the beautiful Lough Hyne with the lush forest of Knockomagh Hill set behind it. The lough is a marine lake. That just means that it is connected to the sea but has a lower salt content because some of the water is rainwater (I didn’t know what a marine lake was until right […]
The Cliffs of Baltimore
I would not have visited Balitmore in South West Cork when I did, if Megan & Eddie didn’t recommend it (they’re a lovely couple that we met here in Cork who’ve since moved back home to the US). The scenery didn’t disappoint. The town itself is a little drive (or walk) from this exact spot that we explored. […]
Doneraile Park
If you’re looking for a great place for a walk, take a drive up to Doneraile Park, situated on the the River Awbeg. It’s open all year round, entrance is free and if you’re located in Cork, it just about a forty minute northerly drive (about ten kilometres outside of Mallow). There’s plenty of space […]
The Cat Shepherd and his Flock
One of the cats, named Bodacious, is the lead shepherd; they call him The Cat Sherpherd. He guards over a flock of beautiful sheep in the countryside near Kilkenny. They aren’t just ordinary sheep, they’re a breed called Zwartbles originally from the Friesland area of the Netherlands. They were mainly used for diary, but they went through a […]
The Druid’s Altar / Drombeg
From looking at the surrounding geography it can almost be guessed that the name of this place in Irish Gaelic would be An Drom Beag (The Small Ridge). As you may already know, stone circles were used in times of old as places of ritual, ceremony and also of burial. Excavations around Drombeg revealed a pit […]