Poetry By Mary Oliver : The Journey
Lifes Journey, Callan, County Kilkenny
Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Journey
Poetry
By
Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Kilkenny Photography : Light through the glass windows.
Kilkenny Photography : Light through the Windows.
Nigel Borrington
The art of Glass making has always fascinated me, the skill needed to produce glass objects goes back hundreds of years and is a wonderful craft to see performed.
One area that the craft can be viewed at its best is in the making of Stain glass windows, the windows above are located in the modern chapel at west-court, Callan, County Kilkenny. the chapel is round in its structure and uses these colored windows as one of its main light sources during day light hours. I have many images of this great space but for this post just want to show the glass itself.
I very much like the handmade feel and look of this glass, containing many natural defects, these just add to the wonderful effect as the light passes through. The design and the colours used are just amazing to study and bring a great effect into the chapel building.
, A Glass blower at The Kilkenny Jerpoint, Glass studios
Glass windows like these are made my hand and by blowing the glass into a bubble then Breaking of the top and spinning the hot glass into a large flat sheet. This flat sheet is then cut into the needed shapes for the design of the window being constructed.
Making plans on a Monday morning – an early walk.
Kells, county Kilkenny
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Monday morning thoughts on an early walk.
So its Monday morning and the First Monday of Novemver, I was up and out early and the weather was amazing. Its turned cooler at the start of this week.
I have a good list of things to do during the week ahead so it was great to get out and look at the local landscape on an early November Morning.
These late autumn and winter mornings are perfect to be out and about in , when its light at 4am in the summer you just dont get to see the early light !!
This winter I hope to do a good few posts during each week that capture the early morning landscape in all weather types from sunny to wet and maybe even a little snow and ice.
Jenkinstown, woodland park , County Kilkenny
Jenkinstown , Forest Park County Kilkenny.
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Jenkinstown Forest park in County Kilkenny is one of my most loved Local places, the walks around the Forest here are amazing at anytime of the year but just now the leaves are starting to turn golden yellow and fall after a frost or period of high wind.
The Jenkinstown estate has a long history and the below image shows the castle that once stood here until at least the time this image was taken during 1930.
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Part of the castle still stands and acts as a home for a local musician.
The park contains some great old buildings such as the round store house and animal shelter that these days offers a great place to read or shelter from a shower on a wet day.
Jenkinstown woodland park , County Kilkenny : Gallery
The Elements : Air
Pagan Elements : Air
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The pagan elements :
Air
The element of Air is vital to human survival, without it we would all perish, its aspects are Thinness, Motion and Darkness and its quality is Active. Air is the manifestation of movement, freshness, communication and of the intelligence. Sound is another manifestation of this element. As an element, it is invisible, but its reality can be felt in the air that we breathe in every day.
To connect with the power of this element, find a place with clean air and breathe deeply, touch a feather or inhale the fragrance of a heavily scented flower. Let yourself experience the energy of this element, and reflect that we also possess Air energy within ourselves.
In magical terms, Air is the power of the mind, the force of intellect, inspiration, imagination. It is ideas, knowledge, dreams and wishes. Air is the element of new life and new possibilities and is essential to spells and rituals of travel, instruction, finding lost items, some types of divination, and freedom. Air aids us in visualization, a vital technique in magic.
Air is a masculine element and governs the magick of the four winds. It is the vital spirit passing through all things, giving life to all things, moving and filling all things. Thus Hebrew doctors ascribe it not as an element but as a medium or glue that binds all things together.
Air
The first element of the alchemical tradition.
Air is the essence of intuition and learning, the element of the nature of the mind.
Astrological Signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Represented by: Feathers, Birds, incense, fans, flags, flowing garments and sheer material.
Season: Winter
Color: White
Chakra: Crown
Celtic air god and goddess:
Arianrhod
“The Silver Wheel”, “High Fruitful Mother”. Celtic Goddess, the sister of Gwydion and wife of Donn. Deity of element of Air, reincarnation, full moons, time, karma, retribution. The palace of this sky Goddess was Caer Arianrhold (Aurora Borealis). Keeper of the Silver Wheel of Stars, a symbol of time and karma. Her ship, Oar Wheel, carried dead warriors to Emania (Moon-land).
Arianrhod (Welsh pronunciation: [arˈjanr̥ɔd]) is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr.[1] In the Mabinogi her uncle Math ap Mathonwy is the King of Gwynedd, and during the course of the story she gives birth to two sons, Dylan Ail Don and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, through magical means.
Ref:
GODDESSES: Aradia, Cardea, Nuit, Urania.
GODS: Enlil, Kheohera, Mercurym, Shu, Thoth.
County Kilkenny Landscape photography
Callan, County Kilkenny,
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This image is of the Friary Green, Callan, County Kilkenny on an early Autumn walk.
Sunset on the River, a Poem By : Jan Weeratunga
River Barrow, County Kilkenny.
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunset on the River
Jan Weeratunga, South Africa
Reds, pinks, oranges and gold’s catch the edge of the clouds and slowly turn the evening sky into a canvas waiting to be painted.
The sun’s last ray’s bounce off the cloud’s lining as it sinks gradually beyond the horizon.
Playfully the rays dance off the shimmering surface of the river,
Another fish jumps from the water,
Sending a concertina of ripples to the riverbank’s shoreline.
Golden waves approach as the setting sun sinks slowly below the horizon,
And small waves lap the side of our boat in an unending regular rhythm.
The repetitive knocking of the fender against the hull takes on the beat of the river,
Tapping the boat and shoreline alike,
It’s constant rhythm disturbed only by the wake of a passing boat or water bird landing on its surface.
Crickets join in with their own percussion as the melody is taken up by the surrounding birdlife,
Each chorus, their evening song as they head along the river bank in search of their nights roost.
Insects buzz over the surface, darting this way and that,
As swallows swoop swiftly, snapping them up in their gaping beaks.
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Against the Western horizon a kingfisher dives into calmer waters bathed in a glorious warm orange light.
To the East the night’s first star is born,
It shimmers and shivers into life,
Just as the river serenely falls to sleep.
Peace is coming to the river as the ‘time between times’ –
That suspended few minutes of sunset –
Links all things in this world in a glorious golden moment before darkness descends.
Gradually the river slips into sleep
And the moon begins to rise and perform her dance across the waters glassy surface;
Replacing her brothers golden rays with her own silver ones.
Silver shimmering light bathes all beneath it,
Only disturbed by an occasional fish breaking free of its watery surrounds,
To be touched and blessed by the moonlight,
Before diving back down to the river bed.
The moon arches across the night sky,
Playing with the stars,
Until her brothers warming rays tell her it is once again time to allow the miracle of night and day to exchange places.
World wide megalithic Portal tomb’s a connection to county Kilkenny .
portal tomb at NewMarket, county Kilkenny
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Portal tombs, Dolmen’s, portal graves or quoit are a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table), although there are also more complex variants. Most date from the early Neolithic period (4000 to 3000 BC). Dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow. In many instances, that covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone “skeleton” of the burial mound intact.
It remains unclear when, why, and by whom the earliest tomb’s were made. The oldest known tomb’s are in Western Europe, where they were set in place around 7000 years ago.
County Kilkenny has two such Tombs , the Newmarket tomb and the Kilmogue Portal Tomb at Harristown, both are dated to some 6000 years of age.
I did a little more reading on these tombs and it is very clear that they are very widely spread through out the world as the link below details :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmen
The link shows their world wide locations as :
3.1 Asia
3.1.1 Korea
3.1.2 India
3.1.3 Eurasia (North Western Caucasus) Circassia
3.1.4 Middle East
3.2 Africa
3.2.1 Horn of Africa
3.2.2 North Africa
3.3 Europe
T-shaped Hunebed D27 in Borger-Odoorn, Netherlands.
Flint Dolmen in Johfiyeh, Jordan
You can see the full details by the link above!
I have been visiting these sites in Ireland for sometime as in Ireland we have many passage tombs through out the country.
Understanding however just how international these locations are is very fascinating.
It needs to be remembered that some 6000 years ago very few of the nations we know, if any existed and people travelled without boarders.
The first time anyone gave Ireland a name as such, it was called “Hibernia”.
Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massilia called the island Iérnē (written Ἰέρνη). In his book Geographia (c. 150 AD), Claudius Ptolemaeus (“Ptolemy”) called the island Iouerníā (written Ἰουερνία, where “ου”-ou stands for w). The Roman historian Tacitus, in his book Agricola (c. 98 AD), uses the name Hibernia. The Romans also sometimes used Scotia, “land of the Scoti”, as a geographical term for Ireland in general, as well as just the part inhabited by those people.
Something that becomes very clear is that the peoples who lived in many different world wide locations often shared the same culture, they lived very closely to and with their environment, they were clearly pagan in their beliefs and as such very close to their surroundings.
Life would have been completely different from the life we know, they lived and moved to the cycles of the seasons, they eat and lived of the wildlife and nature that surrounded them, in some season they would have little food if any.
They clearly had Gods and figure heads, yet we have a tendency to place our own modern religious understanding on-to what this meant to them directly.
It is likely that their Gods were Mythical in nature and derived from memories of real people who they connected with different elements and forces of life that affected the way they lived and survived.
This wikipedia page lists some of the celtic Gods and Goddesses and shows the forces of life and nature that they were related to.
Kilkenny Portal tomb Gallery
NewMarket Portal Tomb
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Kilmogue Portal Tomb
Walking through a field at Coolehill , images with a poem
Coolehill, Windgap, County Kilkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Walking across a field at Coolehill
Walking across the fields of Coolehill,
Ash, Briar, hawthorn, holly, and hazel
A wall around the field that your in.
.
Above you
is a big blue sky, with its layers of soft clouds,
held up by the rows of oaks.
A sheltered patch of sunshine:
.
I stop
and stand in silence
and close your eyes
and feel the warmth on your face,
whilst a blackbird sings.
inspired by Holbury Lane, Lockerley
The woodlands of county Kilkenny after the storm
The woodlands of county Kilkenny after storm Darwin, February 2014
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
On Wednesday last week Ireland was hit by one of the biggest Storm’s for many years .
We have had a series of them over this winter and over 262mm of rain this year to date, I have posted over the last week or so about the flooded local rivers which I spend a lot of time walking along and the effects of all this rain is clear to see.
The other locations I do a lot of walking in however is county Kilkenny’s Forests and woodlands, the images below are taken in one of our local forests Castlemorris woodlands.
On this visit however I was in complete Awe of Nature and the power it holds, The forest has lost many of its great trees and I feel that the images can only get some of the sense across of just how bad this last storm was. I can only imagine the noise and the almost complete mayhem that these woods contained during the storm that powered its way through these trees.
Many of the trees have fallen and had their branches ripped from them, the visit was one of the most amazing I think I will ever have, it was silent apart from the sound of trees creaking in the wind , the sound of broken branches resting against other trees, survivors of the days storm. It was an amazing feeling, a real lesson in the power that nature holds.
You can see in the images that the path into the woods is completely blocked with fallen trees and it will take many days to clear these woodlands and return them to normal, many gaps with be visible and many trees missed.
I will let these images tell the rest of the story!!
Gallery
Following the river over the waterfall
River Pollanassa, Waterfall, Mullinavat, County Kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
County Kilkenny has many rivers both small and large, flowing through its lands. The River Pollanassa, however would not be the best known or the most spectacular of them but for the waterfall it has created as the river flows towards the town of Mullinavat.
The following images show the river as it flows towards, over and past the Waterfall.
The Waterfall at Mullinavat
Kells Priory
Kells priory, county Kilkenny
Canon G1 x
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Kells Priory is located at Kells in county Kilkenny and is a great place to visit if you are in the county.
While most of America and Canada are dealing with snow storms and sub zero temperatures this winter , Ireland has been very mild with well over 40mm of rain during the Christmas period. I visited the Priory yesterday and most of the grounds are under water from flooding. The water however added a new feeling to the priory grounds and I took the following images to capture the atmosphere of an Irish winter here.
Kells Priory, Winters Gallary
What is a Horse ? , Poem by : Lily Whittaker
Uisge beatha, A county Kilkenny Horse
Photography : Nigel Borrington
What is a Horse ?
By: Lily Whittaker
What is a horse?
A horse has eyes as dainty as a mink.
The grace is interrupted merely by a blink.
A horse is beauty.
What is a horse?
A horse is a tree in a storm that never goes down.
A horse is a weathered rock that stays around.
A horse is ancient.
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What is a horse?
A horse waltzes like breeze over rivers.
She curvets and leaps like rain shivers.
A horse is a marionette.
What is a horse?
A horse is determination, that never stops flowing.
A horse is fondness, that never stops growing.
A horse is poetic power.
Friday , A day in the Forests
Nikon D700
A day in the forests of Kilkenny
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
I just spent today working on some images for a local forestry team, these images are for a brochure that they are about to publish.
The weather was just wonderful and I just love being out in the woods watching the tree being thinned out and working with a camera along side these men. the sound of the machines and the speed at which they work in amazing.
Thank you to the men in this forestry team, who helped so much, to create some good and very interesting working images !
Winter Chills : Gallary and Poem by Ellen Ni Bheachain
Winter Chills
By : Ellen Ni Bheachain
Winter hills of white with silverish gleam,
Of winter season and colors that reflect,
The shades of Gray and silver,
From the suns reflection on natures winter,
Bleak and empty yet in a solitude way,
Resting or sleeping,
Hibernating and regenerated,
Till spring arrives,
Bringing back its florishing blooms,
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What is pretty to watch is cold to indure,
The chills of winter from watching it indoors,
For the nature trial of winter will,
Chill and freeze,
And numb you till,
Your lips turn color,
The freeze and chills of real winter,
And then as you warm up,
And your nose and finger tips tingle,
And looking around you on natures trails,
Will be the reminding of the hiding buds and roots,
Laying buried beneath the snows of winter,
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Reminding you,
That too in the spring,
Like the birds will return,
Bringing color and birth back into the light,
With the sounds of nature,
Becoming more musical than winter,
As the birds and the bees,
And all that return or hibernate,
All wake up to wake us up,
To the spring,
When winter chills and freezes thaw,
Taking away the winter chills,
By bringing in the springtime breeze.
Its the weekend so why not ……
Nikon D700, 60mm f2.8 Macro lens
Images for an Autumn weekend
Irish nature and Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend, so why not get out and explore. Spend sometime walking and discovering the things that Autumn has to offer …..
The nature that Autumn brings : Gallery
Kilkenny landscape photography
Fujifilm x100
Sheepstown church, County Kilkenny
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Sheepstown Chapel, which is located at the end of a very small field in county kilkenny was built during the twelfth century which mark the reorganisation from a monastic church system to a diocesan system. The grounds of the church are small with only a very few graves with in the walls, the chapel building is also tiny. When built, only being used for the local community of farmers and their workers.
The chapel was dedicated to St. Muicin, It’s architectural details, as in the doorway are plain, except for the beaded moulding on the four corners of the building and what is known as a ” Clock – Stone ” high up on the West Gable.
The location is very secluded and peaceful, the kind of place well worth visiting and taking your time in.
Read more: http://www.documentingireland.com/products/sheepstown-church-knocktopher-newmarket-co-kilkenny-2-/
Sheepstown church, County Kilkenny, Gallery
Sunday evening Poem
Fuji film x100
Kilkenny landscape view
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Today is the tomorrow
By Neol Cronin
Always on the horizon but never here,
Travelling towards, but never near,
Never sure of what’s in store
No matter what, we will always want more.
Tomorrow’s a day, full of great hope,
Because maybe today, we just cannot cope.
Tomorrow is the day, to us no-one can give.
Tomorrow is the day, we will never live.
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Our being is the present, the here and now.
Our hope – is tomorrow, somewhere, somehow
Tomorrow’s the pipedream, we have today
Today is the tomorrow, we sought yesterday.
Irish landscape photography
All images taken using a, Fujifilm x100
The black and white Farming landscape of the woodstock estate, county Kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
The Following images are from the wonderful Rural landscape of the Woodstock farming estate, above the river Barrow at Inistioge, county Kilkenny.
Taken last Saturday afternoon, while walking in the area.
Irish Landscape : Gallery
Molly and Me – A new photo series
Molly our Golden Retriever
Irish photography by : Nigel Borrington
Molly and Me
While out walking Molly, Our 10 year old Golden Retriever yesterday, I noticed – not for the first time how good she is at finding great subjects to take Images of. I very often notice something she is very interested in and find that it’s a perfect subject for an image.
So I was thinking and then decided that from today and during the winter Months, into the future, I am going to create a new photo series call molly and me.
I want to capture just what plant life and locations interest her when she is out on a walk and capture these objects and moments
I have a good friend that I have got to know in Australia, Anne Casey and her dog Monty, please go and check out her blog she does this kind of story telling very well. Her Blog is just perfect and to myself is what blogging is all about.
Molly and Me : A Gallery
Autumnal Equinox – Sunday
Autumnal Equinox sunset.
Irish landscape photography by Nigel Borrington
Sunday and today marks the autumnal equinox, the time when the day light and dark of the night are exactly equal.
Why is it called an Equinox?
On the equinox, night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world. This is the reason it’s called an “equinox”, derived from Latin, meaning “equal night”/
The September equinox occurs the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from north to south.
This happens either on September 22, 23, or 24 every year. On any other day of the year, the Earth’s axis tilts a little away from or towards the Sun. But on the two equinoxes, the Earth’s axis tilts neither away from nor towards the Sun.
So a happy Equinox to everyone !
Callan, Autumn and Winter
All images using a Nikon D300
Images of Autumn and Winter in Callan, County Kilkenny
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Callan, Autumn and Winter
The weather here has changed, it’s colder and wetter and starting to feel a little more like autumn.
Winter is just around the corner so I have put together this set of images, they show Callan as it can be in the winter months.
Callan a sense of place : Autumn and Winter
Boat-men of the river Suir.
Fisher men and punts on the river Suir, County Tipperary
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Fishing on the River suir
The walk along the river Suir, County Tipperary is one of the best river walks in the south east of Ireland.
The river is used by many local people during the year but the fisher man are most probably it’s most common visitors, the River is renowned for its game angling, holding both salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta).
I have taken many photographs of the fishermen here over the years alone with the boats they use for their fishing, these boats ( all made locally ) are used more like punts as the have a completely flat bottom and are moved along the river with a pole.
Fishing in Ireland : CLOCULLY TO CARRICK-ON-SUIR
The River Suir from Clocully to Carrick-on-Suir is a combination of deep pools, fast glides and varying widths and depths.
From Clocully to Ballydonagh, a consortium of private landowners control the angling, these are all private fisheries. This stretch also includes parts of the River Tar and River Nire, which contain good stocks of trout of up to 30 cm.
Fishing on the river Suir : Gallery
Nigel Borrington 
Classic Irish homes
Images take using a Nikon D7000
Classic Irish Home, County Tipperary
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
When I first came to live in Ireland, one thing I really noticed what the different architecture around the country.
While many homes in both Ireland and main land Europe can and do look the same, I started wondering what the classical Irish house looked like, Well this house sitting on the borders of county Tipperary and Kilkenny to myself is it.
Rectangular with it’s five windows at the front and an arched red front door, this house is so classically Irish in nature that I would now see it as the classic 1900’s Irish home.
These houses could both be a Farm house with the Farm yard at the back or a town house sitting with a garden at the back and the street at the front.
Classical 1900’s Irish home
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October 9, 2013 | Categories: Comment, Down on the farm, Gallery, Kilkenny Landscape images, kilkenny photography, Kilkenny Street photography, Landscape | Tags: classic architecture, classical Irish, County Tipperary Irish landscape photography, Ireland, irish houses, irish landscape images, Irish photography, Landscape, Nigel Borrington, Nikon D7000, Tipperary | 14 Comments