Wednesday 16 July 2014

Genuine Irish Atmosphere

I've just returned from my biennial cycling trip to Ireland. This time we headed to the south east coast, picking up the hire bikes in Kilkenny. I met up with my companions from New York and Ye OldeYorkshire in Dublin.

Dublin used to be one of my favourite cities when I worked there around the Millennium. The new century has seen it turn into a parody of itself. Then what else could have happened? We can never really preserve the past . Travelling on a preserved railway can never give you the same experience as travelling  in the 1930's or even the 1970's for that matter.

Every time I go back to Ireland the things I used to love seem to be harder to find: the music, the bars, the rural villages and even the people

So whenever I travel there I try and photograph houses that will soon be renovated or replaced

Here is a selection of this year's photos.



















Despite travelling by rail down to Kilkenny I didn't take many railway related shots, but here are a few, beginning with a couple of waggons from the old copper mines.




















3 comments:

  1. Really fascinating photos! Dublin has changed so much over the last few years and I agree generally about Southern Ireland. I find that the people are still for the most part really lovely, but visiting Kerry recently I was disappointed to see yet more redevelopment and commercialisation. I am keenly interested in the copper mines...you have sent me scurrying for my reference books :-) The deserted station photos are also rather intriguing. I was just looking at one of the old Guinness locos in Tywyn museum on Friday!

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  2. Iain, I guess we should just enjoy what is left of old Ireland whilst we can. I just wish the standard of food would increase in proportion to the prices they charge. The copper mine was at Tankardstown and was once a massive site, If a rainstorm hadn't been heading my way I would have explored a lot more. The deserted station is Kilkenny, still partially in use but the section under the covered roof is fenced off.

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  3. Thank you, James. I shall have a good look at Tankardstown on my next trip. Yes, the food is a bit of a lottery, isn't it! I suppose I should be grateful the appalling roads around Kerry have improved, but that in itself is an agent of change I guess.

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