Capturing Autumn in County Kilkenny (Images and a Poem by : Andrea Rieck)
Autumn Landscape,
County Kilkenny,
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
It the end of the Second week of October 2014 and Autumn is taking a hold of the county Kilkenny Landscape, We had bad weather and high winds at the start of last week so some of the trees lost a good amount of their leaves. Many however still remain and the golden browns are coming through very well.
I came across this poem by Andrea Rieck last night and wanted to share it along with some of my Autumn images.
It’s autumn again
By : Andrea Rieck
Leaves whisper the sound of our past
In loss they pay a descent
To the ground we fall
It’s autumn again
Our song is sung by the wind
Echoes of loss and grief
Through chilled air we wade
It’s autumn again
The waters grow as cold as our hearts
We are alike – crusted in ice
In ourselves we freeze
It’s autumn again
Flowers vanish from our sadness
Our beauty grows weak
Covered in frost we wither
It’s autumn again
The rain falls like our tears
Can’t dry our eyes
From the sky we descend
It’s autumn again
The sun shines then fails like us
Our sight becomes a wintry gray
Lost in darkness we will fade
It’s autumn again
Images of the sheep shearing shed and a Poem by Lorna Madson
The Sheep Shearing Shed,
Country Kerry,
Irish Photography : Nigel Borrington
Shearing
– by Lorna Madson
I still recall shearing at Dad’s place,
All those early starts,
Learning to skirt the fleeces,
Pulling off the daggy parts.
I remember Dad sewing up sheep that were cut,
With a needle and big piece of cotton,
Sometimes we helped him yard up the sheep,
Or bring in some the dog had forgotten.
There’s a definite art to throwing a fleece,
One that i’m still yet to master,
The only time I ever tried,
Was a complete and utter disaster!
It was always a guess as to when we would shear,
Dad never knew quite when they’d come,
But you always knew by their thirsty look,
When they were about to do the last run.
Mum prepared meals and worked in the shed,
While us kids got up to mischief,
One time we shore so late in October,
Mum asked if they’d be there for Christmas!
Every year without a doubt,
The straw broom went down to the shed,
Either Dad forgot to buy one,
Or it was easier to take Mum’s instead.
On school days we’d race from the bus to the shed,
There was no time for homework or chores,
Getting tossed in a wool press, riding sheep in the pen,
Our hands full of prickles and sore.
When we cut-out half the district would come,
The wool table would be covered in grub,
Plenty to drink and the odd song or two,
It was better than any session at the pub!
This is a glimpse of what shearing was like,
Or at least it’s the bits I remember,
The shearing shed’s where all the action was at,
Usually somewhere around August-September.
But I doubt if Dad’s memories of shearing,
Are as fond to him as mine are to me,
For I didn’t have to worry ’bout microns,
Wool packs and presses you see!
Glengarriff, west Cork, Ireland : Gallery
Glengarriff, Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland.
Irish landscapes : Nigel Borrington
Glengarriff, Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland.
These images where taken on a visit to the west Cork town of Glengarriff during September 2014.
To me the town is at the top of my personal list of best visits in Ireland, for its size it has plenty of places to eat and drink and some great little shops. The surrounding area is full of great places to visit with a wonderful coast line , Mountain walks and Historic parks and nature reserves.
The Town has an official web site here : Glengarriff
Glengarriff the town
Glengarriff (Irish: Gleann Garbh, meaning “Rough glen”) is a village of approximately 800 people on the N71 national secondary road in the Beara Peninsula of County Cork, Ireland. Known internationally as a tourism venue, it boasts many natural attractions. It sits at the northern head of Glengarriff Bay, a smaller enclave of Bantry Bay.
Located 20 km (~12 miles) west of Bantry, and 30 km (~18 miles) east of Castletownbere, it is a popular stop along the routes around the area. In recent years, its importance as a waypoint along the Castletownbere to Cork fish-delivery route has declined as local infrastructure improves.
Glengarriff : Gallery
Landscape Photography of Ireland
Caha Mountains, Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington[/caption]
A view of the Caha Mountains, Healy Pass, Ring of Beara, West Cork
This image was taken on one evening in early September 2014.
I was on a walk through the Healy pass on the Breara , west cork. On getting to the top of the pass I looked back towards Lauragh and the view was just amazing with the ice-age lake at Lauragh upper below. The image is made up of five frames taken using a nikon 18-200 zoom lens at 35mm.
Landscape photography of Ireland
Kilkash castle
County Tipperary
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington
Kilcash Castle is a ruined castle off the N24 road just west of Ballydine in South Tipperary, Ireland. The castle consists of a fortified sixteenth-century tower and an adjoining hall added at a later date.
I have visited this Castle many times over the years, however in more resent months it has been under renovations by the OPW (Office of public works). All the images in this post were taken before this work started.
I noticed last week however that the work is about to complete and I hope to revisit in order to take some new images, when the castle reopens to the public.
Kilcash castle : History
Kilcash may have been a monastic foundation of the mid sixth century. The Butler dynasty has important links to the area. The third son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond was John Butler of Kilcash who occupied lands in Kilcash. His heirs went on to provide four immediate heirs to the earldom of Ormond when the senior line failed through lack of legitimate male issue.
Near the castle are the remains of a medieval church with a Romanesque doorway. This building was partially repaired in the 1980s and is now safe to visit. In the graveyard, the mausoleum (a building nearly as large as the church) contains the tombs of Archbishop Christopher Butler (1673–1757), Margaret, Viscountess Iveagh (see below), Walter Butler, the 16th Earl of Ormond (d. 1773) and John Butler, the 17th Earl (d. 1795). Some of the eighteenth-century headstones are carved with elaborate scenes of the crucifixion.
The main castle building is a fortified tower dating from the sixteenth-century. An adjoining hall was added at a later date, when the need for defence gave way to the large windows associated with settled times. In the sixteenth century the manor of Kilcash passed from the Wall family into the possession of the Butlers of Ormond until the latter sold it to the Irish State in 1997 for £500.
The castle was visited by James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven, a noted Confederate Catholic commander in the 1641-52 war, who wrote his memoirs at Kilcash where his sister, Lady Frances, was married to another Confederate commander, Richard Butler of Kilcash (d. 1701).
By the 19th century, the castle had fallen into ruin after parts of the Kilcash estate were sold c. 1800. During the Irish Civil War, the castle was occupied by anti-treaty forces in an attempt to slow the approach of pro-treaty forces towards Clonmel. They were finally dislodged by artillery fire under the command of General Prout, further damaging the already dilapidated structure.
By the late twentieth century the castle was in a dangerous state of repair. It is currently undergoing extensive repairs which will prevent it from collapsing.
Kilcash Castle : Gallery
Monday Morning Images and Poetry – You And your free range chickens, by : James Jarrett
You And your free range chickens
Farming Photography : Nigel Borrington
your free range chickens
by : James Jarrett
I often thought about you
And your free range chickens
Being happy on the land
Living life free
Both pecking and scraping
Getting life from the dust
But I didn’t know
That it could never be enough
Tho’ scratch might make some happy
I found out too late
That it wouldn’t do for you
But if I could
Believe me true
I’d bring you chickens
Instead of flowers
To brighten up your room
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.
The Autumnal equinox 2014 (Mabon)
autumnal equinox 2014 over Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
What is the autumnal equinox
Our year is divided into four season’s(Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn), the starting date of these seasons is determined by the movement of the sun as our planet orbits around it with a little help by the tilt of the earth’s axis.
On the autumnal equinox, day and night are equally 12 hours long . As the Sun crosses the celestial equator going southward; it rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west.
From tomorrow we start the slow movement towards the winter season, marked my the shortest day , the 21st of December.
Autumnal equinox in the Pagan world.
The holiday of the autumnal equinox, Harvest Home, Mabon, the Feast of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair or Alban Elfed (in Neo-Druid traditions), is a Pagan ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the God during the coming winter months.
The name Mabon was coined by Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology. Among the sabbats, it is the second of the three Pagan harvest festivals, preceded by Lammas / Lughnasadh and followed by Samhain.
Ref : Wheel of the Year
Eurasian eagle-owl
The Eurasian eagle-owl
Photography : Nigel Borrington
Kingdom Falconry is based and located at Crag caves, Castle-island, Co. Kerry, 2km from the town. They offer you the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of very majestic and awe-inspiring birds of prey.
One of these birds is an Eurasian eagle-owl a fantastic bird that was just wonderful to get very close to.
Kingdom Falconry can be contacted from this link.
If you are in county Kerry and near Castle-island and have sometime , I would very much recommend dropping in to meet these birds.
The Eurasian eagle-owl is described as follows :
The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl resident in much of Eurasia. It is sometimes called the European eagle-owl and is, in Europe, where it is the only member of its genus besides the snowy owl, occasionally abbreviated to just eagle-owl. In India, it is often called the Indian great horned owl, though this may cause confusion with the similarly named American bird.It is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a total length of 75 centimetres (30 in), with a wingspan of 188 centimetres (74 in), males being slightly smaller. This bird has distinctive ear tufts, the upper parts are mottled black and tawny and the wings and tail are barred. The underparts are buff, streaked with darker colour. The facial disc is poorly developed and the orange eyes are distinctive.
The Eurasian eagle-owl is found in a number of habitats but is mostly a bird of mountain regions, coniferous forests, steppes and remote places. It is a mostly nocturnal predator, hunting for a range of different prey species, predominately small mammals but also birds of varying sizes, reptiles, amphibians, fish, large insects and earthworms. It typically breeds on cliff ledges, in gullies, among rocks or in some other concealed location. The nest is a scrape in which up to six eggs are laid at intervals and which hatch at different times. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young, and the male provides food for her and when they hatch, for the nestling’s as well.
Continuing parental care for the young is provided by both adults for about five months.
There are about a dozen subspecies of Eurasian eagle-owl. With a total range in Europe and Asia of about 32 million square kilometres (12 million square miles) and a total population estimated to be between 250 thousand and 2.5 million individuals, the IUCN lists the bird’s conservation status as being of “least concern”.
Irish Photography : Galesquarter Church and Castle, Co. Laois – Gallery
Galesquarter Church, Co. Laois
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Old Castle and church at Galesquarter, Co. Laois was home to the Lords of Upper Ossary the Gaelic Fitzpatrick family (Irish: Mac Gìolla Phádraig) .
The two buildings has stood empty since the 1700’s and today are very much in ruins yet go to make a wonderful site in the Local Landscape.
The Gallery below was taken last weekend on a walk through Galesquarter ending in the Bunlacken hills above.
Galesquarter Church and Castle, Co. Laois : Gallery
This old house at Glengarriff, count Cork (Image and Poem By : Sherri Ramirez )
Old house at Glengarriff, count Cork
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
This house is very old
By: by Sherri Ramirez
This house is very old.
Yet, it stands so gracefully.
If the walls could only talk.
I bet they’d have a lot to say.
It holds a lot of memories,
buried deep inside.
It seems to stand with attitude,
as if it carries pride.
It stands upon the foundation,
seeming to claim the land.
Refusing to wither from age
with a little help from my man.
Not one room, is a favorite,
each displays a special touch.
It might be old but, we don’t mind.
We love it very much.
Walkers on Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Walkers on Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Walking up Slievenamon county Tipperary in the summer months is a very popular event for Walkers from both Ireland and International visitors alike.
The walk while steep and hard in places is of only medium difficulty compared to other Irish Mountains and offers some stunning views from the very start of the walk. These views offer a great visual relief as you make your way to the top, as a you have many chance’s to stop as little or often as you need in order to take in the wonderful landscape below. In total the walk takes about three hours up and down the mountain.
The Gallery below was taken during a walk up to the summit last Sunday (7th September 2014) during lunch time.
Walking up Slievenamon county Tipperary
5 Images for the week , Wednesday : Sir Thomas’s Bridge, Clonmel
Sir Thomas’s Bridge,
River Suir, Clonmel
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sir Thomas’s Bridge, Clonmel
The river Suir is one of Ireland most loved and visited rivers. It flows through counties Tipperary and Waterford before reaching the Atlantic at Hook-head lighthouse. I have taken a lot of photographs of this river over the years. one of my favourite subjects are the old bridges that cross the river, most of them are some hundreds of years old and even though they were designed for horse and cart they still stand strong today and cope very well with modern demands
Sir Thomas’s Bridge is just on the edge of Clonmel in county Tipperary and has been used in many films and advertisements.
5 Images for the week , Tuesday : Working the Land
Working the Land, Farming in County Kilkenny, Ireland
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Working the Land
By far the biggest industry in county Kilkenny is farming, The main land use is grassland, dairy farming and tillage farming especially around Kilkenny City and in the fertile central plain of the Nore Valley. Conifer forests are found on the upland areas.
The Occultation of Orion, Poem By : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Orion (constellation)
Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Occultation of Orion
By : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I saw, as in a dream sublime,
The balance in the hand of Time.
O’er East and West its beam impended;
And day, with all its hours of light,
Was slowly sinking out of sight,
While, opposite, the scale of night
Silently with the stars ascended.
Like the astrologers of eld,
In that bright vision I beheld
Greater and deeper mysteries.
I saw, with its celestial keys,
Its chords of air, its frets of fire,
The Samian’s great Aeolian lyre,
Rising through all its sevenfold bars,
From earth unto the fixed stars.
And through the dewy atmosphere,
Not only could I see, but hear,
Its wondrous and harmonious strings,
In sweet vibration, sphere by sphere,
From Dian’s circle light and near,
Onward to vaster and wider rings.
Where, chanting through his beard of snows,
Majestic, mournful, Saturn goes,
And down the sunless realms of space
Reverberates the thunder of his bass.
Beneath the sky’s triumphal arch
This music sounded like a march,
And with its chorus seemed to be
Preluding some great tragedy.
Sirius was rising in the east;
And, slow ascending one by one,
The kindling constellations shone.
Begirt with many a blazing star,
Stood the great giant Algebar,
Orion, hunter of the beast!
His sword hung gleaming by his side,
And, on his arm, the lion’s hide
Scattered across the midnight air
The golden radiance of its hair.
The moon was pallid, but not faint;
And beautiful as some fair saint,
Serenely moving on her way
In hours of trial and dismay.
As if she heard the voice of God,
Unharmed with naked feet she trod
Upon the hot and burning stars,
As on the glowing coals and bars,
That were to prove her strength, and try
Her holiness and her purity.
Thus moving on, with silent pace,
And triumph in her sweet, pale face,
She reached the station of Orion.
Aghast he stood in strange alarm!
And suddenly from his outstretched arm
Down fell the red skin of the lion
Into the river at his feet.
His mighty club no longer beat
The forehead of the bull; but he
Reeled as of yore beside the sea,
When, blinded by Oenopion,
He sought the blacksmith at his forge,
And, climbing up the mountain gorge,
Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.
Then, through the silence overhead,
An angel with a trumpet said,
“Forevermore, forevermore,
The reign of violence is o’er!”
And, like an instrument that flings
Its music on another’s strings,
The trumpet of the angel cast
Upon the heavenly lyre its blast,
And on from sphere to sphere the words
Re-echoed down the burning chords,–
“Forevermore, forevermore,
The reign of violence is o’er!”
Croke Park, Dublin : Kilkenny V Tipperary , 7th Sep 2014
Croke Park, Dublin
GAA stadium located in Dublin, Ireland
Photography : Nigel Borrington
I took the images here while spending a little time watching and photographing the Grounds men of Croke Park Dublin at work.
They are getting ready for the GAA Hurling, All Ireland, Senior Championship 2014 Final on the 7th. Kilkenny will face Tipperary once again in a battle between neighbouring counties.
Here is a detailed history of the Finals between these two side : Kilkenny V Tipperary
Gallery
Borris House , County Carlow
Borris House, county Carlow
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Borris house In county Carlow, is one of Ireland most historic homes as are the Mcmorrough Kavanaghs family who currently still own this wonderful country Estate.
I have visited here many times and was lucky enough to be given a full tour of the grounds and the inside of the house by the owner, while preparing to shoot my first wedding day in the grounds back in 2009.
The images in this post where taken on a somewhat overcast morning in the spring time, I think the softlight added to the atmosphere in and around the grounds.
Borris House History
The ancestral home of the Mcmorrough Kavanaghs, High Kings of Leinster, Borris is one of the few Irish estates that can trace its history back to the royal families of ancient Ireland. Set in over six hundred and fifty acres of walled private park and woodlands, Borris House retains its place as the centrepiece of the locality.
Originally an important castle guarding the River Barrow, Borris House was rebuilt in 1731 and late altered by the architectural dynastic family, The Morrisons, chiefly Richard and William. Externally, they clothed the 18th c house in a thin Tudor Gothic disguise, adding a crenellated arcaded porch on the entrance and decorating the windows with rectangular and ogival hood-moulds.
The MacMorrough Kavanaghs
No family in Ireland can point to a more ancient pedigree than the Kavanaghs. They can trace it back to the dawn of Irish history. Tradition, indeed, carries it far beyond that limit – to the legendary Feniusa of Scythia, coeval with the Tower of Babel, whose descendants, having wandered into Egypt, found their way back again to Scthia, and thence to Spain, from which country Heber and Heremon, the 2 sons of Gallamhy or Milesius, crossed over to Ireland, reduced it to subjection and divided it between them. From them sprang lines of Kings ruling over the 5 monarchies into which the island was split up.
Borris House Gallery
Lyrath Estate and Hotel , County Kilkenny
Lyrath Estate and Hotel , County Kilkenny
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Lyrath Estate and Hotel , County Kilkenny
I have shot a few wedding now at the Lyrath Estate and Hotel , County Kilkenny and got to know the grounds very well in that time. Its a wonderful estate that has the following history :
The history of Lyreth House dates back to the 16th and 17th century. During this time the lands were owned by the Shortall family of Rathardmore. The house was rented to Thomas Tobin until 1653 when they were evicted from the land by English republican Oliver Cromwell who was fighting against the English King ( Charles 1’st ), the Lyrath House being just one estate that Oliver Cromwell took control of.
The Tobin family history at Lyrath is as Follows :
The Tobins of Lyrath
The original townland of Lyrath, lay entirely within the parish of Blackrath (co. Kilkenny); so that it comprised but the western half of the modern townland of Lyrath, the eastern half being portion of Rathardmore. It belonged to the Tobin family, who held it at a certain rent of chiefry, from the Shortalls of Rathardmore. John Tobin, Rector of Callan, who died 1541-42, belonged to this family. Robert Tobin’s lands (of Lyrath), in the Barony of Gowran, were estimated at 5 pounds, about 1560. Thomas Tobin of Lyrath, was Constable of the Barony of Gowran, in 1608; he was still living in 1616. In 1653, Thomas Tobin forfeited Lyrath, containing 116 ac. and “a castle in repair.” Richard Tobin, of Lyrath, and 12 others, had certificates of Transplantation to Connaught signed for them in March 1653-54. Father James Tobin of Lyrath, founded the Poor House in Walkin Street, in 1682. By his last will, made at Lyrath, Oct. 29th, 1699, (with codicil of 10th of following month), and proved December 5th, 1700, he bequeaths his body to the earth, to be interred in his ancestors’ monument in St. John Evangelist’s Monastery in Kilkenny.
As I say this is a wonderful part of County Kilkenny and the estate makes a great visit on a sunny August afternoon.
Gallery
Sunday with Kilkenny’s ancient stones , Discovering nine megalithic Court Tombs
kilmogue portal Tomb , 6000 years old,
The Standing Stone and Tombs of County Kilkenny,
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Sunday with Kilkenny’s ancient stones and tombs
Earlier in the year I posted this article about the kilmogue portal Tomb , Located Near Harristown , County Kilkenny.
Sitting at the end of a short path near Harristown, county kilkenny, it is a 6000 year old tomb, know nationally at the Kilmogue Portal Tomb but locally as, “Leac an Scail” – stone of the warrior/hero in English.
This tomb however has become just the first of many ancient remains I feel I have found in this small area of County Kilkenny, since I posted the above post in April (2014).
The above is a map of a wooded area located above the Kilmogue Portal Tomb, Harristown, Kilkenny.
When back in April when I re-visited the portal tomb, I took a good look at its surroundings, its a dairy farming area with some very defined field patterns, I had a very strong feeling that this tomb could not be the only local ancient remains, there just had to be more.
It took some weeks of walking the local roads and wood-lands to find what I was looking for and the above map shows clearly the amount of sites I feel I have now found (Ring forts, standing stones and Tombs), while walking through the above woods there are many different type of megalithic remains.
I visited the another of what I felt was a possible megalithic site last Sunday and this Sunday morning, a collection of Multiple tombs and wanted to share some of the pictures and feeling below.
To get to this location I had to navigate through the trees and get over a wall into the field but once in I was amazed at what I found. There are a total of nine tombs that could as important as the Kilmogue Portal Tomb, they are possible megalithic Court tombs or Portal tombs. I feel that to find so many Tombs in one field is very special and reflects on just how important an area this must have been to the people who lived here over a vast period of time.
I need to keep working on this location and study a lot more as to my possible findings but feel its very exciting to find such a large collection of Tombs in one place.
I did at first wonder if these tombs where just collections of rocks that a farmer in the past had cleared from his fields but on getting closer and spending sometime walking around them, as you can see in the pictures these rocks are very large and in the correct formation and organisation to be Tombs.
They have large rocks forming a boarder with a raised area in the centre, they have a single gap forming an entrance and what looks like smaller grave area inside the tombs themselves. These features fully match the definition of what are defined as court tombs.
You are welcome to have a good looks at the pictures below and form you own impression but for the moment I am very pleased to have found such an impressive ancient location.
The Tombs of Harristown, Kilkenny ; Gallery
Local Standing Stones : Gallery
Keeping cool in the rocky river.
Molly after a river swim,
Glenmorgan, clonmel
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Yesterday evening myself and Molly went for a walk in the woodlands above Clonmel, county Tipperary.
It been warm this week and keeping a retriever cool is a task these summer days. The river at Glenmorgan however is in a deep narrow cutting and its always shaded and cool, with deep pools of cold water for her to swim in.
This is one of our best local walks and a true escape of a warm July evening.
Glenmorgan, River : Gallery
The secret of the fox, A Poem
Image of a Fox in old dead wood,
Photography : Nigel Borrington
The secret of the fox
is an ancient mystery
Held somewhere deep in the woods.
I know he is hiding.
What is his sound?
Will we ever know
Will it always be a mystery
What would he say?
“The Fox” by Ylvis
Altamont Gardens, County Carlow – Hidden places gallery.
Altamont Gardens, County Carlow
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
I have just spend the morning at Altamont Gardens, County Carlow, getting some images of the Gardens, flowers and the old house in the grounds.
Altamont is one of Ireland best kept old estates, known for the most romantic garden in Ireland, with some 100 acre’s in total.
Whilst still little known, it ranks in the top ten of Irish gardens and is often referred to as ‘the jewel in Ireland’s gardening crown’
Here I post some images of just some of the hidden locations that can be found while walking around the grounds.
Altamont Gardens, County Carlow – Hidden places gallery.
What to do with Green in the landscape ? – using Black and White.
Green in the Landscape, using Black and white
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One of my all-time favourite photographers James Ravilious, once while being interviewed by the BBC said about the colour Green in the Landscape :
“England is a very green country, and “greenness” creates a monotonal view, and one that it’s difficult to achieve much contrast or colour gradation in. Transposing to black and white allows you a richer tone palatte, and to draw attention to the subject more subtly. Black and white contains a bright silver to deep black tone range in landscape images and thus turns a green flat image into a wonderful tonal picture”
This monochrome effect in landscape images is something that has always interested me, Landscape photographers like Ravilious used Black and white film, which when developed correctly in the dark room produces the wonderful tones he talks about.
River Torridge at Sunrise © James Ravilious
I have worked for a long time to both find landscape subjects and black and white processes that can help in getting me close to the same results.
Woodstock country gardens, County Kilkenny, Photography : Nigel Borrington
Black and white image, processed in photoshop CS6 and taken with a fujifilm X100
This blog contains many of the black and white landscape images I have taken and in the Gallery below I want to use some local Landscape images to show, how landscapes taken in colour can look when processed in Black and white.
I have placed the colour images first followed by the black and white images, have a good look at them, see what you think and comment if you like.
Some photographers don’t get black and white others love it and will only produce images in monochrome.
Green or Black and white Gallery
Nigel Borrington 
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