Christmas Comes Early

      4 min read      Ireland

This past weekend, for an early Christmas present, I gave Kathleen a weekend getaway to Ennis in County Clare, in the west part of the country near Shannon. I had been to Ennis for a conference a few weeks ago, and knew Kathleen would enjoy wandering the town while we finished up our Christmas shopping. On the way to Ennis, we took a quick detour to the Cross of Spancilhill, the location immortalized in the old Irish song “Spancil Hill”, one of my favorites.

Windy Weather

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

We’ve had some amazingly windy days here recently. Last Sunday we had some friends in from the U.S. and were touring down the coast during a windstorm - sustained gusts of 50-60 MPH. I shot a short video of the waves crashing on shore. You can play it below. It doesn’t really do it justice, but it’s kind of cool. Those are 50-foot cliffs the waves are blowing up and over.

Sometimes you get lucky...

      1 min read      Uncategorized

![](/irelandimages/dunbrodyship.jpg) The pic above shows the Dunbrody Famine Ship, which is open for tours in New Ross, County Wexford, not too far from Waterford. We happened to spot the lovely view on our return from a trip to Dublin a couple of weeks ago.

Galway & Limerick

      2 min read      Ireland · Photography

This past weekend brought us a 3-day weekend because Halloween provides a bank holiday in Ireland. With our typical forethought, we made no plans and instead hopped in the car Saturday morning and headed to Galway, tourist Mecca of Ireland. It’s only 150 miles from Tramore to Galway, but given the Irish roads that’s nearly a 4-hour drive, though a very lovely one. We got to Galway and spent most of the day sightseeing before dropping in to a Failte Ireland office to check on accommodations.

Ring of Kerry

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

A few weeks ago we headed to the Ring of Kerry on the southwest coast. We’d heard from several people, Irish and American, that this area is one of the most beautiful in Ireland, and they were right. We got pretty lucky with the weather and had sun for most of the day we were down there. However, we were a little early for the fall color, which was a little disappointing.

University College, Cork Graduation

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

A couple of weeks ago we went down to Cork for the UCC graduation ceremony. A number of students who take classes at the Dunhill Multi-Education Centre, where Kathleen works, were graduating, so we tagged along to take pics. One of the grads was our friend Katherine, wife of Willie Moore, who is the board president of the organization Kathleen works for. Congratulations Katherine! After graduation we spent the day wandering around Cork, Ireland’s second largest city.

Happy Samhain!

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

Well, we’ve survived Halloween in Ireland. We’ve learned that here in the land where they invented it, Halloween is a big deal! We were greatly disappointed to not have any trick-or-treaters stop. We saw very few out wandering around the neighborhood. The bigger thing here is to have fireworks and bonfires, so we did get to watch (illegal) fireworks all around the neighborhood for a good share of the night. This time of year there are lots of references to the ancient Celts floating around, and that’s intrigued me to do more reading about them.

Well there's something you don't see every day

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

Friday night Kathleen and I attended a black-tie charity ball in support of a sports center for a public-housing neighborhood in Waterford. It was a good networking opportunity for Kathleen, as it was sponsored by the Waterford Local Economic Development Company. And so, in Ireland, Kathleen finally got me into the tux she couldn’t convince me to wear for our wedding.

It's a long way to Tipperary...

      1 min read      Ireland · Photography

Or so the song goes. Having now been to Tipperary I can report that it’s not all that far, but thanks to the windy Irish roads it will take you a while to drive there. But it’s a lovely drive, and if you happen to be coming back from Tipperary at midnight you can see the beautifully-lit site of Cashel Castle atop the Rock of Cashel.

First Visit to Dublin

      2 min read      Ireland · Photography

Well okay, we flew into Dublin, so I’d been there before, but we didn’t see anything. So technically, this was my first visit to Dublin city center. Last weekend we headed to Dublin to visit our friends Alan and Bre and their daughters, Orla and Ciara. Alan has worked in the past for the Dunhill Multi-Education Centre where Kathleen works, and he was the first connection Kathleen and UW-Stout had to Dunhill.