When I Am Among the Trees, Poem by : Mary Oliver
Castlemorris Woodlands , County KIlkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Winter trees by the river bank
Winter trees along the river Nore, county KIlkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
A river walk in January along side the river Nore, county kilkenny, offers some great views.
Amongst the best of these views are the great leafless trees, their hight and their shapes casting long shadows, their reflections in the water.
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
Early in the Spring
County Kilkenny, woodland landscape
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Early in the Spring
By : James Kent
Early in the spring
Not a leaf has struck the ground
The swallow has yet to sing
And the plowmen are no where to be found
Early in the spring
The forest stands still
And no creature dare come out
Before the sun rises o’er the hill
Early in the spring
The valley holds the morning dew
And its serenity may be captured
By only a certain few
.
Early in the spring
The trees turn, brown to green
Many changes occur
But few can be seen
Early in the spring
Or in the latter of fall
No matter the change of season
The evergreen stands tall
New paintings , Digital art work
Painting from the Irish Bogs.
Digital art work : Nigel Borrington
First paintings for over a year :
Its over a year since I did any painting, I have been working with my photography so much, but as its the start of a new year , I felt a real need to paint again.
This painting is the start of a project I will work on , based on the upland bogs of Kilkenny and Tipperary.
It based on a series of photographic images from these great places.
Images of Ireland from the Air.
Images of the south east of Ireland from the air.
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
One of the most exciting ways you can see County Kilkenny and its surrounding counties is from the air, the images posted here are taken during a flight in a light aircraft.
You can fly from Kilkenny air field on a sight seeing visit to any location you would like, on this trip we travelled south of Kilkenny and followed the river Suir towards Waterford city, returning to the airfield about 2 hours later.
Its a great way to see Ireland and wonderful on a sunny clear day.
Gallery of the flight
Yesterday’s Sun and wind, a poem for the January sun.
A view of Slievemamon, county Tipperary
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Yesterday’s Sun and wind
By : Ann Copland
She is the wind swift and pure
so rare to find her like this, still innocent
above a sunny afternoon far into tomorrow.
.
The wind begins three Counties away
to cool the day, relieve us from the warming sun
Were you not sure she is real?
One day, you may see her, if you look
very close, spheres carry new molecules
Her breath is ice, you’ll feel it early maybe
just a brief gust before the temperatures drop
.
Welcome on a January afternoon
by the time we see a branch sway
or a hat tumble, the freezing breath
has warmed to a gentle winter breeze
So much effort, the team who make nature
I’ll let the wind breathe
Duiske Abbey
Duiske Abbey, County Kilkenny
Irish Photography : Nigel Borrington
Duiske Abbey, County Kilkenny, is one of the best maintained Cistercian Abbey’s in Ireland also known as Graiguenamanagh Abbey, it is a 13th-century Cistercian monastery situated in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny in Ireland.
Duiske Abbey was founded by William Marshall in 1204 and is one of the first, largest and perhaps the finest of the thirty-four medieval Cistercian monasteries in Ireland. The Abbey is the parish church of Graiguenamanagh town and beautifully dominates the town centre.
The Abbey is located in the valley of the river Barrow, on a site between the main river and the Duiske tributary. The abbey derives its name from the Douskey River Irish: An Dubhuisce, meaning “Black Water”.
Both the Abbey and the town of Graiguenamanagh are wonderful locations to visit with a camera, Park in the town and visit the Abbey first , then you can walk along the river Barrow, north towards kilkenny or south towards Waterford.
Gallery
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
Down in the deep water, Image and Poem
Castlecomer lakes and river Dinin, county KIlkenny
Infra-red image
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Down in the deep water..
Down in the deep water
By the edge of the river
Where I ponder my life
Just how did I get to this
Down in the deep water
By the edge of the river
Where the waterfall of dreams
Sweeps away what’s left to the abyss
Down in the deep water
By the edge of the river
Where time stands still
just only forever.
Down in the deep water
By the edge of the river
Where I buried all
That was ever my childhood
Where I let it go,
Where it bends and meanders,
Twisting along as the years went past.
Seemingly calm, but screaming beneath the surface
Were its hidden whirlpools, a sweeping current
Down in the deep water,
I left the edge of the river,
As I looked down
For my soul at the bottom.
Deep in the deep water
Swept away by the river
I drowned in life,
Sinking forever.
Irish photography – Irish rivers
River Nore, Thomastown, County Kilkenny
Digital Infra-red image
Irish landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
County KIlkenny’s rivers
The River Nore, one of the three sisters.
The River Nore, is a 140-kilometre (87 mi) long river located in south-east of Ireland. Along with the River Suir and River Barrow, it is one of the constituent rivers of the group known as the Three Sisters.
The river drains approximately 977 square kilometres (377 sq mi) of Leinster. The river rises in the Devil’s Bit Mountain, North Tipperary. Flowing generally southeast, and then south, before emptying into the Celtic Sea at Waterford Harbour, Waterford.
Kilkenny landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
Found things; Birch Polypore in the January woodlands
Birch Polypore Funji
Irish Nature Photography : Nigel Borrington
Your may think the during the still month on January the woodlands are died and that nothing is growing, yet a closer look will bring you some well deserved surprises.
January for the woodland fungi is a perfect month, the winter rain and relative warmth of the trees bring perfect growing conditions, these Birch Polypore were growing in a woodland at the foot of Brandon hill, County kilkenny.
Birch Polypore
Description
The fruiting bodies (basidiocarps) are pale, with a smooth greyish-brown top surface, with the underside a creamy white and with hundreds of pores that contain the spores. The fruiting body has a rubbery texture, becoming corky with age. Wood decayed by the fungus, and cultures of its mycelium, often smell distinctly of green apples. The spores are cylindrical to ellipsoid in shape, and measure 3–6 by 1.5–2 μm.
P. betulinus has a bipolar mating system where monokaryons or germinating spores can only mate and form a fertile dikaryon with an individual that possesses a different mating-type factor. There are at least 33 different mating-type factors within the British population of this fungus. These factors are all variants or alleles of a single gene, as opposed to the tetrapolar mating system of some other basidiomycete species, which involves two genes.
Range and ecology
The geographic distribution of Piptoporus betulinus appears to be restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. There is some doubt about the ability of isolates from the European continent, North America and the British Isles to interbreed.
It is a necrotrophic parasite on weakened birches, and will cause brown rot and eventually death, being one of the most common fungi visible on dead birches. It is likely that the birch bracket fungus becomes established in small wounds and broken branches and may lie dormant for years, compartmentalised into a small area by the tree’s own defence mechanisms, until something occurs to weaken the tree. Fire, drought and suppression by other trees are common causes of such stress.
In most infections there is only one fungal individual present, but occasionally several individuals may be isolated from a single tree, and in these cases it is possible that the birch bracket fungus entered after something else killed the tree. These fungal “individuals” can sometimes be seen if a slice of brown-rotted birch wood is incubated in a plastic bag for several days. This allows the white mycelium of the fungus to grow out of the surface of the wood. If more than one individual dikaryon is present, lines of intraspecific antagonism form as the two individual mycelia interact and repel each other.
The fungus can harbor a large number of species of insects that depend on it for food and as breeding sites. In a large-scale study of over 2600 fruit bodies collected in eastern Canada, 257 species of arthropods, including 172 insects and 59 mites, were found. The fungus is eaten by the caterpillars of the fungus moth Nemaxera betulinella.
Gallery
A January Morn, a Poem by Nelda Hartmann
Kilkenny landscape photography
New years day 2014
Irish Landscape
A January Poem
January Morn
By – Nelda Hartmann
Bare branches of each tree
on this chilly January morn
look so cold so forlorn.
Gray skies dip ever so low
left from yesterday’s storm.
Yet in the heart of each tree
waiting for each who wait to see
new life as warm sun and breeze will blow,
like magic, unlock springs sap to flow,
buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow.”
Stable By Claudia Emerson
A Family Stable in county Kilkenny
Photography : Nigel Borrington
Stable
By Claudia Emerson
One rusty horseshoe hangs on a nail
above the door, still losing its luck,
and a work-collar swings, an empty
old noose. The silence waits, wild to be
broken by hoof beat and heavy
harness slap, will founder but remain;
while, outside, above the stable,
eight, nine, now ten buzzards swing low
in lazy loops, a loose black warp
of patience, bearing the blank sky
like a pall of wind on mourning
wings. But the bones of this place are
long picked clean. Only the hay-rake’s
ribs still rise from the rampant grasses.
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.
.
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 !
The Glassblower a Poem by : Rhonda Baker
Jerpoint Glass studios, County Kilkenny
Irish Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Glassblower
by, Rhonda Baker
Inside a building near the center of town
A glassblower’s love of glass is quite profound
With sweat on his brow and jacks firmly in hand
Lost in a piece oblivious to the land
People are gathered to observe the dance
To watch this unexpected miracle; as if by chance
To watch someone struggle with every fiber of their soul
To make the biggest, most colorful and stunning…Bowl?
.
It’s a madness for which no cure can be found
But one he’d gladly have, it’s that profound
For glass teaches a lesson that must be taught
Life; like glass must be wrought
And when illuminated, it shines so bright
Now seeing it’s beauty; what an awesome sight!
11/23/09
Rhonda Baker
Jerpoint Park
Jerpoint Park, County Kilkenny
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Newtown Jerpoint the Lost Town
Jerpoint Park in County Kilkenny hosts a Monument of notable importance: The Lost Town of Newtown Jerpoint.
Map of the village
It was founded by either Earl Marshall or Griffin Fitzwilliam in 12th century, just west of the Cistercian Abbey, where the main crossing of the River Nore was formed by a tole paying bridge.
It was a vibrant town, with approx 27 dwelling houses, a court house, woollen mill, a tannery, a brewery and reputed to have had 14 taverns. It was powered by two water wheels working on the little Arrigle River and a tower house stood near the market place, where a wealthy merchant would have lived.
Traveling further up East-West Street, St. Nicholas’s Church and graveyard are situated over looking the town, where the earthly remains of St. Nicholas ( Bishop of Myra) lay a unique feature of this church is the rood-screen which dates from the 15th century; this is the gallery-like construction running across the church between the nave and the chancel. It was used to support a missive reconstruction of the crucifixion, while the floored area above could also have been used for religious plays and choirs. The final phase was the construction of a small tower over the rood-screen itself, which served as the priest’s residence.
The Heritage Council of Ireland has published a Heritage Conservation Plan about Newtown Jerpoint that you can download.
Saint Nicholas Bishop of Myra
Saint Nicholas was born in 260ad in Patara, a coastal town in what is now Turkey. The poor knew him throughout the land for his generosity, his love for children and being associated with ships, the sea and sailors. He was eventually consecrated Bishop of Myra, just miles from his hometown. The beloved Bishop died in 343ad.
Many Christian churches and many countries observe December 6th his feast day with great celebrations, processions, services and gift giving.
Images of St. Nicholas in paintings, icons, statues, collectibles, and stained glass often show him alongside three young men in a barrel that he brought back to life after an innkeeper murdered them. He is almost always seen with three bags or balls as well, symbolising the three bags of gold he tossed through the chimney of the home of a poor man in his village for the daughters dowry, so they would not be sold as slaves. Thus he is also seen as the “gift giver”. A ship and the sea are also common symbols of the saint. Western and Eastern depictions of blessed Nicholas differ in style and costume.
Saint Nicholas is a patron of many places and people. He is closely associated with Russia, Greece, Holland, Austria, Belgium, Aberdeen and New York. Pawnbrokers, travellers, unwed persons, children, sailors and many others claim a special relationship to the saintly figure. Many churches are dedicated to him as well. Saint Nicholas is third most popular subject of icons in the church, with only Jesus Christ and the blessed Virgin Mary having more representations.
Tradition in these parts tell that the earthly remains of St. Nicholas were secretly removed from Bari by returning crusader knights, who brought them back to Newtown Jerpoint for safe keeping. They buried those remains with all due reverence in the church that to this day bears the Saint’s name. The grave of St. Nicholas is marked by beautifully carved grave slab just outside the church, the tall figure of the Saint dominates the carving, and flanking him on both sides are the heads of the two crusader knights who brought his remains here.
Jerpoint Park, Black and white Gallery
Found things in the Irish woodlands : Image Gallery .
Nikon D700, 24-70mm f2.8 lens
Found objects in the Irish woodlands
Irish Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
From a personal Stand point one of the things I love doing most photographically is to just explorer my Local surroundings, I walk our dog Molly a 10 1/2 year old Golden retriever everyday and carry a camera with me for most of these trips out. the Local Kilkenny woodlands in December are still surprisingly full of life and things to capture.
The following Gallery is from a trip to Castle Morris woodland, last week.
Found things in the Kilkenny woodlands
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,
.
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,
.
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.
Tony O’Malley
Self-Portraits Tony O’Malley, Centenary Exhibition 2013
Over the last five years I have been working for Jane O’malley, a local artist and wife of the late Tony O’Malley , photographing all of Tony’s archive work along with some of Janes own paintings.
Tony is a very well know artist in Ireland and it has been a great pleasure to work with Jane and record and see most of Tony’s Career through his paintings and sketch books.
Some of these photographs of tony’s self portraits have just been used in a new book and exhibition being held in the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny.
The below images taken this weekend are from the exhibition.
The Exhibition, held in the Butler Gallery Kilkenny
“Tony O’Malley holds an important and distinguished position in the history of twentieth century Irish art. A highly respected and beloved artist, his works are represented in all major Irish museums and included in the most significant public and private collections of Irish art. Throughout O’Malley’s working life he made self-portraits. They became a way for the viewer to know him. O’Malley taught himself to draw and paint, and in the early days the self-portrait was a convenient immediate means in which to put marks to paper whenever a mirror was available. The mirror was a non-judgmental, reliable ally.
Through the diversity of his self-portraits, we see O’Malley’s practice evolve. The self-portraits stare back at us, mostly unexpressive and unsmiling, sometimes severe, sometimes with one eye closed. Always we see O’Malley’s distinctive strong nose, bearded face, and a bald head at times dressed with skull cap, in later years with sunhat, protection from the hot Bahamian rays. From time to time, we see O’Malley viewed from only the side of a mirror, with the studio or the garden taking prominence in the remainder of the frame. The monochromatic self-portraits are stark and economical and echo the words of the artist himself, ‘The more I paint the less of myself is there’. O’Malley has left us a great gift: a wealth of self-portraits by which to remember him.”
Its the weekend so… (20 images)
Images for the Weekend
Irish Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
It’s the weekend so why not put on some walking shoes and get outside into the country, walk for as long as you like and lose yourself in the Landscape.
Images for the weekend a Gallery
The Jackdaw, by : William Cowper
Jackdoors at Kells Priory, County Kilkenny
Irish Wildlife Photography : Nigel Borrington
The Jackdaw
by : William Cowper
There is a bird who, by his coat
And by the hoarseness of his note,
Might be supposed a crow;
A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishop-like, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too.
Above the steeple shines a plate,
That turns and turns, to indicate
From what point blows the weather.
Look up — your brains begin to swim,
‘Tis in the clouds — that pleases him,
He chooses it the rather.
.
Fond of the speculative height,
Thither he wings his airy flight,
And thence securely sees
The bustle and the rareeshow,
That occupy mankind below,
Secure and at his ease.
.
You think, no doubt, he sits and muses
On future broken bones and bruises,
If he should chance to fall.
No; not a single thought like that
Employs his philosophic pate,
Or troubles it at all.
.
He sees that this great roundabout,
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army, physic, law,
Its customs and its businesses,
Is no concern at all of his,
And says — what says he? — Caw.
.
Thrice happy bird! I too have seen
Much of the vanities of men;
And, sick of having seen ’em,
Would cheerfully these limbs resign
For such a pair of wings as thine
And such a head between ’em.
Typhoon Haiyan, Meeting of Filipino people living in Kilkenny.
Fujifilm X100
Filipino people in county Kilkenny.
Typhoon Haiyan, A group Meeting
Typhoon Haiyan, Meeting of Filipino people living in Kilkenny. ( Sunday 17th Nov 2013)
Photographs taken during a meeting of Filipino people living in Kilkenny, to raise awareness for the effect of Typhoon Haiyan, on their home lands.
Nigel Borrington 
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