Sunday Evening in the Mountains
In the Mountains
—Li Bai [Li Po]
Why do I live among the green mountains?
I laugh and don’t answer.
My soul is calm:
It dwells in another heaven and earth
Belonging to no one.
The peach trees are in flower.
The water flows on.
—Li Bai [Li Po]
Mountain Twilight , By : William Renton
Mountain Twilight
By : William Renton
The hills slipped over each on each
Till all their changing shadows died.
Now in the open skyward reach
The lights grow solemn side by side.
While of these hills the westermost
Rears high his majesty of coast
In shifting waste of dim-blue brine
And fading olive hyaline;
.
Till all the distance overflows,
The green in watchet and the blue
In purple. Now they fuse and close –
A darkling violet, fringed anew
With light that on the mountains soar,
A dusky flame on tranquil shores;
kindling the summits as they grow
In audience to the skies that call,
Ineffable in rest and all
The pathos of the afterglow.
Sunrise on the Beara peninsula, west Cork, Ireland
Sunrise at Cahirkeen Cross
Beara peninsula
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
I have returned to Kilkenny last Saturday, following a perfect week spent on the Beara Peninsula , West Cork.
These two photos are the first I took at 6:30am during a great sunrise over the sea looking towards the Slieve Miskish mountains.
The Beara peninsula is one of my most loved locations in Ireland and it was so good to spend sometime visiting for another great peaceful week.
Before the mountain, Poem By :Myochi Roko & Sherry Chayat, 1990
Before the mountain, by the grace of nature
I was allowed to realize “Oh!I am only a child!”
tendered by spruce and birds.
I saw without my usual defenses
and endless thinking.
I know anything or everything
coming between me and creation.
– Myochi Roko Sherry Chayat, 1990
Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Endless Streams and Mountains
Endless Streams and Mountains
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Endless Streams and Mountains
Clearing the mind and sliding in
to that created space,
a web of waters steaming over rocks,
air misty but not raining,
seeing this land from a boat on a lake
or a broad slow river,
coasting by.
The path comes down along a lowland stream
slips behind boulders and leafy hardwoods,
reappears in a pine grove,
no farms around, just tidy cottages and shelters,
gateways, rest stops, roofed but unwalled work space,
—a warm damp climate;
a trail of climbing stairsteps forks upstream.
Big ranges lurk behind these rugged little outcrops—
these spits of low ground rocky uplifts
layered pinnacles aslant,
flurries of brushy cliffs receding,
far back and high above, vague peaks.
A man hunched over, sitting on a log
another stands above him, lifts a staff,
a third, with a roll of mats or a lute, looks on;
a bit offshore two people in a boat.
The trail goes far inland,
somewhere back around a bay,
lost in distant foothill slopes
& back again
at a village on the beach, and someone’s fishing.
Rider and walker cross a bridge
above a frothy braided torrent
that descends from a flurry of roofs like flowers
temples tucked between cliffs,
a side trail goes there;
.
a jumble of cliffs above,
ridge tops edged with bushes,
valley fog below a hazy canyon.
A man with a shoulder load leans into the grade.
Another horse and a hiker,
the trail goes up along cascading streambed
no bridge in sight—
comes back through chinquapin or
liquidambars; another group of travelers.
Trail’s end at the edge of an inlet
below a heavy set of dark rock hills.
Two moored boats with basket roofing,
a boatman in the bow looks
lost in thought.
Hills beyond rivers, willows in a swamp,
a gentle valley reaching far inland.
The watching boat has floated off the page.
My secret places – a weekend at the cove
I have many favorite places to visit at the weekend here in Ireland.
The little cove in these images is just one but its high on my list, I am not going tell you where it is – its a secret 🙂 🙂
Have a great weekend everyone and I hope you manage to find sometime to visit your own little secret spaces , stay for a while if you do – so that you can escape and relax by put the week just gone behind you !
Monday Poetry , Canal Life, By : Ian McMillan
Ian McMillan
Canal Life
The canal tells you stories
The canal sings you songs
They hang in that space
Between memory and water
Once saw a narrowboat raised up,
Like it was cutting through the air,
Between two grass walls and the road below
Like it was sliding through history,
And a tiny vole swam across the water
So a tiny vole swam through history.
The canal tells you stories
The canal sings you songs
Once saw a man floating belly up in a canal
Like he was in the bath. He shouted
‘This is the life’ as I passed by on a narrowboat;
The sky was reflected in the surface
And we tied up in the places the map never showed us,
The man floating by, making ripples on the surface.
They hang in that space
Between memory and water
Once got waved at by a jogger as I stood gongoozling
On the towpath; her running gave rhythm
To the early afternoon, dog-strollers and kids
Who’d rather be here than sitting in school.
To gongoozle is to stand and watch narrowboats pass
And a canal is a lesson, a water-based school.
The canal tells you stories
The canal sings you songs
Once these canals were information highways
If coal and iron can be information,
And I think they can be. And there are bridges,
Pub gardens, the laughter of children
As they walk by the water; and the canals
Turn us all into curious children.
They hang in that space
Between memory and water
Once is never enough for a canal, I reckon;
You need to go back and see it again,
And sail it again, and smell it again, and
Touch it again; canals run through our veins
Like they stroll through this country
Like blood through our veins.
The canal tells you stories
The canal sings you songs
They hang in that space
Between memory and water
It’s the weekend so why not take a long walk ……
Black water river at Youghal, county cork.
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
It’s the weekend so why not get outside into the landscape and take a long walk, stay for a while until your completely relax ………
Have a great weekend everyone 🙂
Ruin a Poem By S. A. J. Bradley
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Ruin
Wondrous the stone of these ancient walls, shattered by fate.
The districts of the city have crumbled.
The work of giants of old lies decayed.
Roofs are long tumbled down,
The lofty towers are in ruins.
Frost covers the mortar,
Tiles weathered and fallen, undermined by age.
The original builders are long in the earth’s cruel grip,
generations since have passed.
These broad walls, now reddened and lichen-aged, brown and gray:
once they withstood invading kingdoms.
Now, beneath countless seasons, they have fallen.
The rampart assembled by many, crumbles still,
Though hewn together with skill of sharpening and joining,
Strengthened ingeniously with chain and cabled rib-walls.
In the town, urbane buildings, bathhouses, lofty rooftops,
a multitude gathered.
Many a hall filled with humans
until Fate inexorably changed everything.
All the inhabitants succumbed to pestilence.
Swept away are the great warriors.
Their towers and walls are deserted,
the desolate place crumbles away.
Who could repair any of it,
for they are long dead.
So the courtyards and gates have collapsed,
and the pavilion roofs of vaulted beams crumbled.
Here where once men in resplendent clothes, proud, gazed upon their gold and silver treasure,
their gems and precious stones,
upon their wealth, and property:
the bright city of a broad kingdom.
Stone courtyards ran streams of ample water, heating the great bathes,
conveniently flowing into the great stone vats …
A Thursdays evening walk at the bay …..
Thursday evening Landscapes
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington
Just a quick image share today 🙂
It is hard to believe that after all the long winter months with their dark evenings, at last we are here in the early days of the summer 2015.
Its has been a perfect start to the summer here in Ireland with long warm days right from the beginning of the Easter Holidays.
I cannot wait for the long warm evenings, with long walks until the sunsets ……….
Summer evenings Gallery
Friday , Beach Photography day. – Taking some Easter down time :)
Irish Beach Photography
County Waterford
Nigel Borrington
Over the next two weeks of the Easter Holidays, I am taking some Offline time, I just want to get the garden ready for the summer,read and walk and maybe visit a beach or two.
I just want to say thanks to everyone for all your great comments and likes here 🙂 🙂 over the months and I look forward to sharing much more of Ireland and reading your great posts when I get back online – have a great holiday period !!!
Friday Is Beach Photography day
Taking a Friday evening trip down to the beach’s along the Waterford coastline is something I love to do in the summer months and I am very much looking forward to doing so again this summer.
I hope to get lots more images to post and share here 🙂
Beach Photography , Friday
Twilight on the Beach : A poem by : Mary Dow Brine
When Twilight falls upon the beach,
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Twilight on the Beach.
By : Mary Dow Brine
The crimson glory of the setting sun
Hath lain a moment on the ocean’s breast,
Till twilight shadows, gathering one by one,
Bring us the tidings, day is gone to rest.
Far out upon the waters, like a veil,
The mists of evening rise and stretch away
Between the horizon and the distant sail,
And earth and sea are clothed in sombre gray.
The tide comes higher up the smooth, wide beach,
Singing the song it has for ages sung;
Recedes, and carries far beyond our reach
The freight my idle hands have seaward flung.
Over the white-capped waves the seagulls soar
With heavy-flapping wing and restless cry,
As darkness spreads its deeper mantle o’er
The changing shadows of the twilight sky.
.
No voice but mine to mingle with the sound
Of ocean’s melody- as one by one
The stars light up the vast concave around,
And live the glory that is never done.
Still higher creeps the tide with subtle power,
And still the waves advance with sullen roar;
But with the last faint gleam of twilight hour
I turn me homeward from the lonely shore.
An Evening walk above – Clonmel , County Tipperary , (Image Gallery)
An Evening Walk in the hillside woodland,
Clonmel, County Tipperary,
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
I just love taking a evening walk at this time of year, the evenings are staying lighter but we still get the chance to be out when the sun is very low in the sky, ready to set.
These recent images, show just how perfect I feel our local landscape looks in the early springtime evenings, with deep colours.
I love making the most of the Sun in my images, as it sinks behind the forest trees.
Evening walk , March 2015
Three Poems , all with the Title “Morning star”
Morning Star, over Slievenamon , Co Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Morning Star.
By : Connor Sean McMurrick Crow
A kingdom in ancient history,
long before man was thought to exist,
stood in Hyperborean heartland.
Ruled in peace by a woman of antediluvian
beauty and her King-Groom.
Leviathan, a queen of rare black hair and eyes of velt,
rose every morning to greet the sunrise.
On this particular day, she woke Archon.
With a trailing gown of violet, she led him
by hand through perfumed gardens of
exotic sights.
Sunna broke over the hedges and
burnt the mist from frail orchids,
and all that was left of that kingdom
of runic beauty were two lovers entwined in stone.
.
By : Scott Madden
Dec 22, 2014
The Morning Star
Have you seen the morning star?
It keeps it’s vigil in the East,
A prophet of the dawn.
It rises when the night is at its coldest,
The warmest light in the vast blackness.
It rises when the night is at its darkest,
The brightest light in the black vastness.
Have you seen the morning star?
.
By : Justinian
Feb 2, 2010
Morning Star
The sun wakes and stretches its rays over the horizon.
Embraced is my heart and my smile shines on.
In my dreams,
you I did miss.
When I awake,
your lips I shall kiss.
Irish Landscape Photography : The River Suir
Irish Landscape Photography
The River Suir, County Waterford
Nigel Borrington
The River Suir that flows through Counties (Tipperary and Waterford) is only one of Ireland many rivers, with so many here its hard to say that its the most loved or the most beautiful but it cannot be far from it. I spend a lot of time walking the banks of this river so a little time ago I decided to get a flight booked from Kilkenny’s small Airport and get some pictures of the Suir from above, the above image being just one.
This was one of the most amazing things I have done with a Camera and it was a perfect day to do this trip, I will never forget looking down the river Suir towards Waterford city and seeing the river vanish into the setting sun …..
The River Suir
Irish pronunciation:, Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire, is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 185 kilometres (115 mi).[1] The catchment area of the River Suir is 3,610 km2. The long term average flow rate of the River Suir is 76.9 Cubic Metres per second (m3/s)- This is more than twice the flow of the River Barrow (37.4 m3/s)
Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river (weighing 57 lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874), as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in decline in recent years.
Rising on the slopes of Devil’s Bit Mountain, just north of Templemore in County Tipperary, the Suir flows south through Loughmore, Thurles, Holycross, Golden and Knockgraffon. Merging with the River Aherlow at Kilmoyler and further on with the Tar, it turns east at the Comeragh Mountains, forming the border between County Waterford and County Tipperary. It then passes through Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir before reaching Waterford. Near the Port of Waterford it meets the River Barrow at Cheekpoint to form a wide navigable estuary, capable of accommodating seagoing vessels up to 32,000 tons dwt. It exits to the sea between Dunmore East and Hook Head.
Together with the Nore and the Barrow, the river is one of the trio known as The Three Sisters.
50 + Landscape images of Ireland : Happy St Patricks Day !
Happy St Patricks day everyone 🙂 🙂
Below I have posted lots of images from the last few years, all Landscape images of this great Island of Ireland !
St Particks day 2015, an Irish Landscape Gallery
The Old stone bridge, a Poem by, Tony Mitton
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington
The old stone bridge
By, Tony Mitton
The old stone bridge
is where folk stood to talk,
watching the water go under,
hearing its fluent music
gather their words
to carry notions, ruminations, gossip
away in a silver wrapping
of rippled sound.
Sometimes, too, the women would come,
down the stone steps to the brookside
to launder the linen, the clothes.
And again, all the soil,
the sweat and the swear of life,
would be washed in that water,
rolled in that bundle
of tinkling, tumbling sound,
to be carried down,
out of sight and of mind,
rinsed by the workings of water.
Its the first full weekend of March, so why not go out for a Spring time walk …….
Spring time 2015
Nigel Borrington
Its the first full weekend of March, so why not go out for a walk and see what Spring time changes you can find ….
Have a great weekend what every you do !!!!
Irish Landscape Photography – The River Suir at Mooncoin , County Kilkenny
Fishing boats on teh River Suir
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Fishing on the River suir
A walk along the river Suir, at Mooncoin, County Kilkenny 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 men are 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 their boats, used for their fishing. These boats ( all made locally ) are used more like punts as they have a completely flat bottom and are moved along the river using a pole.
Allihies copper mines, Copper Mine a Poem By : Madhu Kailas
Allihies copper mines
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Copper mines located at the small town of Allihies , west cork Ireland are amongst some of the most worked and preserved in this part of Europe , their history is as follows :
Copper mining started in Allihies in 1812 when John Puxley, a local landlord, identified the large quartz promontory at Dooneen as copper bearing from its bright Malachite staining.
The Allihies Mines
Initial mining began with a tunnel or adit driven into the quartz lode from the pebble beach below. In 1821 two shafts were sunk . Flooding was a continuous problem and in 1823 the engine house was erected to house a steam engine brought over from Cornwall to pump water from the depths. The remains of this building with the base of the chimney can be seen across the road. There is also evidence of a steam powered stamp engine to the left of the chimney and dressing floors in front of the engine house. The high dam further inland is the remaining evidence of a water reservoir which stored the water that was pumped out from the bottom of the mine. It was used for the steam engines and needed to separate the copper from rock. All the rubble on the cliff at the sea side of the road is the crushed useless quartz rock left over after the copper ore was extracted.
This is one of six productive mines in the Allihies area and its operation continued until 1838 when it closed due to failing ore.
John Puxley died in 1860 and in 1868 his son Henry Puxley sold the mines to the new Berehaven Mining Company who reopened the mine and installed a new 22 inch steam engine in 1872. Little ore was produced though in this period and the mine was finally abandoned in 1878.
Copper Mine
By : Madhu Kailas
Hollowed earth,
a large reservoir of emptiness.
Deep down where only
the moon can touch
dregs of an empty cup,
static turquoise fluid
of residual copper blood.
Cyclopean machines
crawl like dwarf ants.
Along grooves etched by mortal hands.
Gnaw at rocks,
startled out of deep sleep
to be stripped.
An ancient cave painting
tumbles out of extinction
delineated by squished insect blood
on ochre flats.
Dead insects scrabble out of rocks
on the landscape of our civilisation.
Its a Wonderful, Wonderful Life in the Killarney National Park
Grounds Keepers House
Killarney National Park
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Life as a grounds keeper at the National Park of Killarney, must have been a hard one at times, however what a life this must have been working and living with these surroundings.
What a Wonderful, Wonderful life !
They say you get use too these views ?
Killarney National Park a Gallery
The Sound of the Sea, By : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep”
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
An Image and Poem to sleep too , Sunday into Monday Morning …….
The Sound of the Sea
By : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,
And round the pebbly beaches far and wide
I heard the first wave of the rising tide
Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep;
A voice out of the silence of the deep,
A sound mysteriously multiplied
As of a cataract from the mountain’s side,
Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep.
So comes to us at times, from the unknown
And inaccessible solitudes of being,
The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing
Of things beyond our reason or control.
Its the weekend , Time to get out and walk and relax if you can …………
Slieve League Coastline
County Donegal
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Its the weekend so I just wanted to share one of my favorite places in Ireland, the coastal mountains of Slieve-League , County Donegal.
This location is one of the most Beautiful spots in Ireland, looking out directly towards county Sligo and its bay and in land along the coast towards Donegal city itself.
Landscape Locations such as this one are just amazing to visit and all so easy to take for granted, when ever I have to leave a spot like this I make an assumption that I will return one day soon, I know just like us all though , maybe not 🙂 .
So it’s the weekend, if you can get outside , visit your most loved places and don’t rush away back home !!!!!!
Nigel Borrington 
Sunday evening and its time for just drifting …….
Sunday Evenings
Irish Landscape Photography
Nigel Borrington
Sunday Evenings are a great time of the week , the weekend is almost over, yet you still have a few hours just to drift and hold back the new week ahead of you.
Its all to easy thinking ahead but Sunday evenings ? well maybe they are all about living in the moment !
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September 27, 2015 | Categories: Comment, Gallery, Landscape | Tags: Irish landscape photography, living the moment, mental health, Nigel Borrington, relaxation, sunday evenings | 6 Comments