08 Wednesday May 2013
Tags
ireland, Irish, Leitrim, photo competition, rte, sligo, television, tv, weather
I got an email today from RTE to say the photo above was a finalist in the Spring RTE weather photo competition. It will be shown on RTE 1 and 2 on Sunday May 12th at the weather bulletins. The photo was taken on March 20th, 2013 on the Sligo/Leitrim border.
07 Tuesday May 2013
Tags
abbey, building, Creevylea Abbey, Dromahair, flowers, iphone 4s, ireland, Irish, Leitrim, photography, photos, ruins, tulips
On my way dropping off and picking up people yesterday (mums taxi). I had a brief stop at Creevylea Abbey, Dromahair, Co. Leitrim.
The weather wasn’t the best so the sky was a bit dull. These photos are all just taken on the phone….lazy photography again.
It was lovely to see the tulips blooming on the graves. It brightened up the place.
21 Sunday Apr 2013
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
car boot sale, carrick on shannon, cows, ireland, Irish, Leitrim, photography, photos, Roscommon
Just a very quick blog for today. It’s a day off the A to Z challenge. Today we headed to Carrick-on-Shannon to go to the car boot sale and have a look around. It stayed mostly dry while we were there which was nice.
We didn’t get much, there are too many traders at the car boot sale for my liking and some people want too much money for things.
I must say I liked the quirky cows we saw in Boyle.
24 Sunday Mar 2013
Tags
ireland, lake, Leitrim, lough gill, north west hospice, open water swim, sligo, swim, swimmers
How about taking part in the Lough Gill Swim this year? It’s a great event and raises much-needed funds for North West Hospice. There are only 9 places left for this years swim so what are you waiting for? The rest of my photos from last year are here.
If you need any more inspiration have a look at this hilarious video:
19 Tuesday Mar 2013
Tags
Glencar, ireland, Irish, landscape, Leitrim, rural, scenery, scenic, sheep, snow, water, waterfall, weather
I had a couple of hours spare today now that I’m no longer in the volunteer centre. I’ve really missed exploring so it’s great to get back to it again.
Glencar is a really lovely place with beautiful scenery. We had some snow this morning and it settled on the higher ground.
After a little drive around I headed to the waterfall. The shots aren’t as steady as I’d like them to be as I don’t use a tripod and handheld on 0.4 second is difficult.
The rain stayed off while I was out walking around the waterfall, which was good as I haven’t got my waterproof camera yet. For those who don’t know I won a waterproof camera from Pixcam. I’m delighted about it !! Can’t wait to try it out.
For some reason people have turned the fence at the waterfall into a ‘rag tree’. It was only like this in the last year or so.
I’m all for the concept of rag trees where objects are left in the hope a prayer or wish would be granted but I was surprised to see a One Direction sticker and an empty tic tac box!!
13 Sunday Jan 2013
We went to Carrick-on-Shannon today for the first car boot sale after Christmas. We were hoping it would be a really good one…but it was rubbish. The weather probably didn’t help, it was misty and raining a bit and it was blooming cold. So we decided to go bowling, we haven’t been in years. I won! It was a fluke though. I wish we had a bowling alley in Sligo again, I’d certainly go more often it we did.
Before the bowling we had a look around the shops. We had a bit of a dance in Quidsworth and could hear the staff laughing….we realised they were watching us on CCTV…whoops!
20 Tuesday Nov 2012
Tags
concert, ireland, Ireland West Trad, Irish, Irish music, Leitrim, online, the gathering, tourism, traditional, webcast
If you are a fan of Irish traditional music there is a great show online tonight at 8pm GMT from Ireland West Trad. There will be some fantastic musicians playing and the webcast will also be showcasing Leitrim. So relax in the comfort of your own home and enjoy the sights and sounds of Ireland.
26 Friday Oct 2012
Tags
hobby, Leitrim, photography, photos, relaxation, sligo, sport, stand up paddle, SUP, water, water sport
I had a great experience during the week where I walked on water! Who would have thought it possible? I have been watching David from SUPforall‘s Facebook page with interest, it always looks like everyone has a great time and I got my chance to try it on Wednesday.
If you don’t know what SUP is it’s Stand Up Paddle. Basically you stand on what looks a bit like a surfboard and paddle. I must admit I was quite nervous. I’m quite a clumsy person and I have no sense of direction. So I made sure I had a change of clothes with me and as much as I wanted too I didn’t bring my phone or my camera with me….so I took these photos before I took to the water.
David is the man who runs SUPforall. He’s a great guy, very patient and great at explaining what we should be doing. It did take a while for my leg to stop shaking and for me to relax a bit but once I did I really enjoyed it.
It was so relaxing just paddling and taking in the breathtaking scenery. You aren’t thinking about anything else…in my case I was too busy thinking about staying on the board. We got to paddle in Lough Gill which was a little bit choppy but not too bad (and no I didn’t feel sea sick). Then we turned down to the River Bonet so we had Sligo on one side and Leitrim on the other. It was 4km in total although it didn’t feel like it.
Even the dog can paddle 
This is Davids lovely little dog. I was thinking of bringing Rocket-dog but he’d have probably been running around the board. I really recommend SUP to everyone. I had a SUPer day.
The rest of my photos are here.
04 Tuesday Sep 2012
Tags
ireland, Isle of Innisfree, lake, Leitrim, lough gill, photography, photos, Rose of Innisfree, sligo, W. B. Yeats, Wild West Irish Tours
Today I once again joined the Wild West Irish Tours for the day, thanks to Michael for inviting me to tag along. Today we went on The Rose of Innisfree and took a cruise around lovely Lough Gill. We were joined on board by Mary Kennedy who was filming for RTE’s Nationwide.
George was a wonderful Captain and told us all about Lough Gill and W. B. Yeats as well as reciting poems and getting us to join in.
We sailed alongside the Isle of Innisfree. It’s a very small island and I’m inclined to believe that W. B. Yeats was writing about another island possibly Beezie’s or maybe Church Island. I suppose we’ll never know for sure.
We also got to see Dooney Rock and Slish Wood. I was very grateful that the boat was calm and I didn’t have a repeat performance of the last time I joined the Wild West Irish Tours to Inismurray Island.
There was only one thing I didn’t like about the tour of Lough Gill and that’s St. Angela’s College. I think it really is a blot on an otherwise beautiful landscape and I don’t know how they got permission to build it there.
My thanks to Wild West Irish Tours for letting me join them. The rest of my photos are here.
21 Tuesday Aug 2012
Tags
abbey, Creevylea Abbey, Dromahair, Leitrim, photography, photos, scenic, trees, water
Last week I went to visit Creevylea Abbey in Dromahair. Michael from Wild West Irish Tours was telling me about the place and I was intrigued. I loved the walkway to it through the trees and was looking forward to seeing what was around the corner.
I loved seeing the cows in front of the abbey. I was hoping they would turn around but they weren’t obliging me.
Creevylea was a Franciscan Friary founded in 1508…so there’s a lot of history in the remaining walls.
On the day I went there were some heavy showers….typical Irish summer weather! So I didn’t get as long to look around as I would have liked….what better excuse to go back again 
The abbey is very near the River Bonet…which is just beautiful. To have the river, woodland and abbey together just turns this place into something magical. The rest of my photos are here.
