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Spirit

Spirit

Spirit

Wading in a river of beauty and vibrant light,
A stream of emotion where words have no sound,
In silence of feelings so ‘noisily’ present,
Invading the ‘space’, no invite, but welcomed.

In colours of raindrops entering Whole,
Captivates, Inspires, Instils formless form,
Facets of dreamtimes, of Faeries and wishes,
The Drum-Beat ‘awakens’ the feelings of Calm.

Dancing in a river of beauty and vibrant light,
A waterfall of emotion where words feel no force,
An earthquake of feelings so tenderly entered,
Accepted in Space, invited and warm.

Poem By : Ri

Pagan’s and the Immortal Spirit

Pagan’s have a belief in the immortality of the spirit and in the unending cycles of the Seasons and life itself: birth, death, and rebirth. They believe that the spirit is nature itself. Life and its Spirit is in every part of everything that surrounds us, it cannot be separated from it. Pagan God’s take their form as a part of this, they have to respect life and nature just like we do. Even though they control individual elements they cannot ignore all the other gods and their elements in doing so.

Posted by  |  July 3, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Landscape, Poetry Gallery, The Pagan world | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Irish Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima (Briúlán)

Wild rose heads on the banks of the river suir
Sigma SD15, 15mm-30mm lens, iso 50
Irish Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima (Briúlán)
Irish Nature photography by : Nigel Borrington

Rosa spinosissima (Briúlán)

A walk along a woodland path or river bank at this time of year will give you a wonderful view of Ireland wild flowers, yesterday I photographed these wild roses.

“This little rose is such a delight to find, usually on sandy soil, limestone pavements and grassy heaths. It’s an erect, bushy shrub, about 50cm in height with numerous straight thorns and stiff bristles. Its pretty 3-5cm flowers can be white, cream or pink and are comprised of five heart-shaped petals. They flower from May to August after which the bush displays its fruit in spherical, purplish-black hips which still have the remnants of the sepals at their tops. The leaves are 3-5 pairs of small rounded leaflets. This shrub usually sheds its leaves in winter. It is a native plant belonging to the family Rosaceae. There are some microspecies. ”

Ref : Wildflowers of Ireland

Wild roses flowers on the banks of the river suir
Sigma SD15, 15mm-30mm lens, iso 50
Irish Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima (Briúlán)
Irish Nature photography by : Nigel Borrington

Wild roses on the banks of the river suir
Sigma SD15, 15mm-30mm lens, iso 50
Irish Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima (Briúlán)
Irish Nature photography by : Nigel Borrington

Posted by  |  July 3, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, kilkenny photography, Landscape, Nature and Wildlife, Plants and herbs | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Images from the river bank – river Suir county Tipperary

Images from the banks of the river suir 1
Sigma sd15, 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 lens, iso 50, tripod mounted.
Images from the banks of the river suir, clonmel, County Tipperary
Landscape photogrpahy by , Nigel Borrington

The River Suir that runs through county Tipperary and Waterford before reaching the sea at the ring of hook and the hook head light house is one of Ireland most Beautiful rivers in the country, many people have painted, photographed and written book on this river.

These images are from a walk I took last evening with Molly our Golden retriever.

I found this poem from a local woman, living in Carrick-on-suir

A Personal Poem by Maura Murphy
Published on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 12:09 pm

Maura Murphy, Collins Park, Carrick-on-Suir while a patient at Waterford Regional Hospital recently, penned the following poem about her adopted home- town and the river Suir that flows through it.

River of Memories Reflector of Light / Timeless, Endless, Hidden Might / I Recall Happy Walks, Children in Tow / Watching the Fishermen, Swans in a Row / Throw Sticks in the Water, Who’ll Win the Race / In Summer the Swimmers Showing their Pace / You are the Town, You Gave it it’s Name / All Gained from your Bounteous Supply of Free Game / The Trout and the Salmon Kept Starvation at Bay / Put Food on the Table for Many each Day / As You go on Your Journey, From Source to the Sea / I Thank You for the Joy You Have Brought to Me / For the Picnics, the Laughter, the Fun and the Games / In my Happy Memory They ever Remain.

The river Suir Wiki

Images from the banks of the river suir 2
Sigma sd15, 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 lens, iso 50, tripod mounted.
Images from the banks of the river suir, clonmel, County Tipperary
Landscape photogrpahy by , Nigel Borrington

Images from the banks of the river suir 3
Sigma sd15, 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 lens, iso 50, tripod mounted.
Images from the banks of the river suir, clonmel, County Tipperary
Landscape photogrpahy by , Nigel Borrington

Posted by  |  July 3, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Landscape, Poetry Gallery, Travel Locations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Images from the road : Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork

Images from a road in Garinish Beara west cork 1
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington

Images from the Road, west Cork

If you visit west cork the drive or walk around the ring of Beara, offers one of Ireland’s most Scenic views, these images are looking along the coast towards Allihies, west cork.

Images from a road in Garinish Beara west cork 2
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Garinish, ring of Beara, west Cork
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington

Posted by  |  July 2, 2013 | Categories: Landscape, Travel Locations | Tags: , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The ferry to Bere island

The Ferry to Bere Island 1
All images using a Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens
The Castletownbere to Bere Island ferry, west Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

One summers afternoon on a visit to Castletownbere, I sat down on a bench at the quay’s and took some images of the ferry arriving from Bere island. West Cork has many small Islands but not all are serviced so well by ferries like this one.

I have lived in different locations during my life and lived with different methods of transport (Cars, A Bus, trains, motorcycles, cycles) but never a ferry, it must be an amazing things to live your life using one each and everyday to get home. The passengers on the ferry during the day were people getting to work, shopping, school kids and holiday makers.

Bere Island website

Castletownbere web site

Both locations well work a visit.

The Castletownbere ferry web pages

A Gallery of a ferry

The Ferry to Bere Island 2

The Ferry to Bere Island 3

The Ferry to Bere Island 6

The Ferry to Bere Island 10

Posted by  |  July 2, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Landscape, Travel Locations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The To-be-forgotten By Thomas Hardy

The to be forgotten

The To-be-forgotten
By Thomas Hardy
.

I
I heard a small sad sound,
And stood awhile among the tombs around:
“Wherefore, old friends,” said I, “are you distrest,
Now, screened from life’s unrest?”

II
—”O not at being here;
But that our future second death is near;
When, with the living, memory of us numbs,
And blank oblivion comes!

III
“These, our sped ancestry,
Lie here embraced by deeper death than we;
Nor shape nor thought of theirs can you descry
With keenest backward eye.

The forgotten at rest 3

IV
“They count as quite forgot;
They are as men who have existed not;
Theirs is a loss past loss of fitful breath;
It is the second death.

V
“We here, as yet, each day
Are blest with dear recall; as yet, can say
We hold in some soul loved continuance
Of shape and voice and glance.

VI
“But what has been will be —
First memory, then oblivion’s swallowing sea;
Like men foregone, shall we merge into those
Whose story no one knows.

VII
“For which of us could hope
To show in life that world-awakening scope
Granted the few whose memory none lets die,
But all men magnify?

VIII
“We were but Fortune’s sport;
Things true, things lovely, things of good report
We neither shunned nor sought … We see our bourne,
And seeing it we mourn.”

Posted by  |  July 2, 2013 | Categories: Forgotten places, Gallery, Landscape, Poetry Gallery | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hoverflies : Well its only nature

Its only nature
Nikon D7000, 105mm Macro lens, iso 100
Two hover-flies
Nature photography : Nigel Borrington

Hoverflies

Wiki

Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.

Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year; because of this, aphidophagous hoverflies are being recognized as important natural enemies of pests, and potential agents for use in biological control. Some adult syrphid flies are important pollinators.

About 6,000 species in 200 genera have been described. Hoverflies are common throughout the world and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. Hoverflies are harmless to most other animals despite their mimicry of more dangerous wasps and bees, which serves to ward off predators.

Posted by  |  July 1, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Nature and Wildlife | Tags: , , , , | 9 Comments

Templemichael church, Ballynatray estate, Cork.

The forgotten at rest 1
All images : Sigma SD15, 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 lens,iso 50
Templemichael church and grave yard, County Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

TempleMichael church, County Cork

If you walk around the Irish landscape, one feature that cannot be avoided and that you will come across very quickly is the countries abandoned church yards, I find these places just amazing to walk around. The grave yard here must contain at least 200 graves, all surrounding the church which is itself in ruins and just a shell.

I have no intention of dealing with the history and as to why these places are forgotten, but I think that anyone would feel a little uneasy walking around these yards. Generations of French/British/Irish – European people rest here, families going back some two or three hundred years.

No one left to lay flowers, No one to cut the grass. Most of the head stones are slowly falling over and the names disappearing. my only personal interest in these church’s is based around the fact that when I walk around them I see no one visiting, no one sitting next to the grave’s of their ancestors, any descendants are absent from these place’s.

History of TempleMichael church

In 1183 Raymond le Gros established a Preceptory of Knights Templar at Rhincrew, an out post of which was TempleMichael. The keep was built specifically to control the river crossing.
The now ruined Church of Ireland parish church dates from 1823 it was built with a grant from the Board of the First Fruits, and until about twenty years ago was used for worship.

Gallery of TempleMichael church and grave’s

The forgotten at rest 2

The forgotten at rest 3

The forgotten at rest 4

The forgotten at rest 5

The forgotten at rest 6

Posted by  |  July 1, 2013 | Categories: Comment, Gallery, Landscape, Travel Locations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Images from the Blackwater river

Images from the blackwater river 3
Sigma sd15,15-30mm f3.5-4.6 lens, iso50
Images of the Blackwater river, Munster, Ireland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

The Blackwater river

One of my favourite river’s in Ireland is the Blackwater, it flows from Co.Kerry all the way to Youghal Harbour, on the south coast.

“The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater (Irish: An Uisce Dubh, The Black Water) is a river which flows through counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland. It rises in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in County Kerry and then flows in an easterly direction through County Cork, through Mallow and Fermoy. It then enters County Waterford where it flows through Lismore, before abruptly turning south at Cappoquin, and finally draining into the Celtic Sea at Youghal Harbour. In total, the Blackwater is 169 kilometres long.

The Blackwater is notable for being one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the country. Like many Irish and British rivers, salmon stocks declined in recent years, but the Irish Government banned commercial netting of salmon off the coast of Ireland in November, 2006.”

Lisomre

Lismore castle 1
Sigma sd15,15-30mm f3.5-4.6 lens, iso50
Images of the Blackwater river, Lismore, Munster, Ireland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

As it passes just below Lismore Castle ( Which I will do another full post on ), it has carved out one of the most Beautiful river valley’s in the south of the country. I have many images from this area and visit regularly so will come back many time to post some more images.

blackwater river 1
Sigma sd15,15-30mm f3.5-4.6 lens, iso50
Images of the Blackwater river, Munster, Ireland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

blackwater river 2
Sigma sd15,15-30mm f3.5-4.6 lens, iso50
Images of the Blackwater river, Munster, Ireland
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington

Posted by  |  July 1, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Landscape, Travel Locations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The weekends fading light

The Weekends faiding light
Nikon D7000, 18-200mm lens, iso 100
Sunday evening sunset over the Nire-valley
Landscape photography by : Nigel Borrington

Sunday evenings are my most favourite time of the week, the weekends light is fading fast and we have a new week ahead of us, new chances to grow and reach our aims.

Posted by  |  June 30, 2013 | Categories: Gallery, Landscape, Solo images | Tags: , , , , , , , | 11 Comments