I miss Ireland

One of the more random places we stayed in Ireland was in Malin Beg. It is a small quaint little area up in picturesque Donegal Ireland. Also in the general area are the ‘Largest Sea Cliffs’ in Europe, the Slieve League.

See More Malin Beg + Slieve League

My dad and I spent two days in frigid Connemara, land of the bogs and lamb chops…

See the rest of the Connemara Series.

On the second day on the Dingle Peninsula small rain storms were passing over the area which made for some gorgeous clouds and lighting. Here is the second set of the Dingle Peninsula.

Some More on the Dingle Peninsula via Wikipedia.org:

The Dingle Peninsula is the smaller and northernmost of the two peninsulas that make up County Kerry, in Southwest Ireland. The landscape is wild and beautiful from the eastern spine of the peninsula in the steep Slieve Mish (mountain of phantoms) to the western end where the land breaks into a scattering of uninhabited and dramatic islands and cliffs and beaches alternate around the coast. Dingle town (An Daingean) is small enough to walk and big enough to be lively.

Once described by the National Geographic Traveler as “the most beautiful place on earth�, the Dingle Peninsula is a place of intense allure, with a plethora of green landscapes, rocky hills, long sandy beaches and staggering cliff edges. The warm Gulf Stream reaches the peninsula, giving has a wonderful mixture of sometimes rare and unusual flora and fauna.

See the rest of the Dingle Peninsula Series. The second day’s images are at the end.

In continuing with my week of crazy photo editing, here is some of the Killarney National Park set. We hit up the park on the way down from the Dingle Peninsula to the Ring of Kerry.

Some More on Killarney National Park via Wikipedia.org:

Killarney National Park is located beside the town of Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. It was the first national park established in Ireland, created when Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish state in 1932. The park has since been substantially expanded and encompasses over 25,425 acres of diverse ecology, including the Lakes of Killarney, Oak and Yew woodlands of international importance, and mountain peaks. It has Ireland’s only native herd of Red Deer and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland.

Enjoy the photos! See the rest of the Killarney National Park Series.

So I finally got some of the Ireland photos up and going, it feels like it’s going to take forever to get through all of these but they’re turning out quite nice. First up is the Dingle Peninsula, specifically Slea Head where we ended up staying for the night. The youth hostel was in Dun Chaoin, which had a gorgeous view over the Great Blasket Islands. In the morning when we left we got some gorgeous morning light which made getting up that early pretty easy.

Some More on the Dingle Peninsula via Wikipedia.org:

The Dingle Peninsula is the smaller and northernmost of the two peninsulas that make up County Kerry, in Southwest Ireland. The landscape is wild and beautiful from the eastern spine of the peninsula in the steep Slieve Mish (mountain of phantoms) to the western end where the land breaks into a scattering of uninhabited and dramatic islands and cliffs and beaches alternate around the coast. Dingle town (An Daingean) is small enough to walk and big enough to be lively.

The Great Blasket island to the west, which was evacuated in the 1950s produced at least three well-regarded Irish writers, the most well-known being Peig Sayers. Until recently the western end of the peninsula, including Dingle was very cut off from the rest of Ireland by sheer distance and poor roads.

Once described by the National Geographic Traveler as “the most beautiful place on earth�, the Dingle Peninsula is a place of intense allure, with a plethora of green landscapes, rocky hills, long sandy beaches and staggering cliff edges. The warm Gulf Stream reaches the peninsula, giving has a wonderful mixture of sometimes rare and unusual flora and fauna.

Enjoy the photos! See the rest of the Dingle Peninsula Series.

Hey everyone, I haven’t checked in for awhile. Just wanted to let everyone know the Ireland trip went fantastic, somehow I managed to return home in one piece! This is what I learned: Ireland in the winter is very cold, windy and wet. Days are very short, and by the time the sunlight comes up, it’s on its way back down again. I put about 1700 km on the car and I think my favorite places this time around were over in the Inishowen and Dingle Peninsulas. I got some awesome photos that I’m looking forward to sharing really soon once I finish up editing this wedding I shot last weekend…Things have been really busy lately, it seems like every weekend now I’m shooting something or meeting with a couple or other to schedule a wedding. It’s been great, hopefully I’ll get back on track and post up some new photos on here soon!

Hello from Ireland.
It is cold, wet and it gets dark very early.
I’m having a great trip and have put last trip’s photos to shame, I look forward to sharing them with you! One minute to go on internet! See you when I get back!

ian

Folks, I’m off to bloody Ireland again. Wish me luck, and with a little hope, this wont happen again. See you November 24th!

I’ve always wanted to stay at the Foulksrath Castle Hostel, so this time around it’s going to happen. The Foulksrath is right outside Kilkenny and will put us in a decent position to be able to return the rent-a-car early in the morning the next day [it’s a couple hours outside Dublin]. On the way over to Kilkenny, we’ll probably skirt the general Cork area or even check out the Hook Head Lighthouse down by Waterford. We’ll see.

Day Six will be spent on the wonderful Ring of Kerry as well as in Killarney National Park. Hopefully I’ll get to run down to my favorite little town of Kenmare too if there’s time. For the night we’re going to be staying in Killarney International Hostel right next to the National Park. Should be pretty exciting and cold!

Day five is going to be a bit of a nice drive, from Connemara we’re heading down through Galway and around the Dingle Peninsula. One of my favorite areas is the very westernmost point called Slea Head. It has a gorgeous view of the famous Blasket Islands and basically it’s beautiful sheep filled farmlands. So I was happy when I discovered the Dun Chaoin hostel which is right around the area in a small town called Ballyferriter.

For day four, we’re ending the Donegal portion of the trip and heading down to Connemara [which is a really pretty portion of Ireland]. Ever since I went there last it’s been my favorite area of Ireland, so It’s also going to be my birthday and much celebration will occur in the middle of nowhere by the peat bogs. For the night we’re going to be staying at the Ben Lettery Youth Hostel near Recess, Ireland.

For day three I’m going to be staying at the

MalinBeg Hostel which is on this windy deserted road over by the Slieve League cliffs [supposedly the highest cliffs in western Europe] in Donegal. MalinBeg I think is going to be this trip’s random stop, mostly because it’s far away from pretty much any sort of population [other than sheeps]. It is however near the quaint town of Glencolmcille, which from what I’ve read it will be really nice. I predict it will be a nice ocean and cold themed day. Also, any hostel that uses comic-sans as their font must be halfway decent.

For the second night, my dad and I are going to be staying at the Errigal Hostel, which is one of the hostels I’m most looking forward to. It sits right under probably one of the most famous mountains in Ireland, Mount Errigal. It’s in a nice rural area far away from basically everything which is what I’m going to most enjoy. Also that day we’re going to be exploring the Inishowen Peninsula and doing a sizeable few hour drive up from Slane [near Dublin].

Here’s the Hostel’s description:
Situated amongst the misty hills of Dunlewey, North Donegal, Ireland. Errigal Hostel has been sheltering hill walkers, photographers, bikers and hikers for over forty years. The lure of Errigal mountain with it’s 100% panoramic views of northwest Donegal will surely delight the novice as well as the experienced climber. The infamous Poisoned Glen with it’s resident ghost ‘The Green Lady’ should also keep those intrepid ghost hunters on their toes!

The hostel is a prime location from which to discover the northwest Donegal area. From here you can visit the Glenveagh national park with it’s castle and Italian gardens, or take a stroll along one of the many white sandy beaches of the Donegal coast. The nearest town of Bunbeg contains many a traditional pub where you can listen to an Irish music session while savouring a drop or two of the black stuff