Finn McCool's Country...

Dunluce...yet again.

2011-11-24T20:39:00.000Z

Legend has it that in 1639 part of the castle, including the kitchen, fell into the sea. Seven kitchen staff were killed in this incident. The sole survivor was in a corner of the kitchen which didn't collapse.

The castle was abandoned after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when the MacDonnells became impoverished as a result of backing the losing side in the Battle.

The property eventually passed into the hands of the Northern Ireland Government in 1928.
It is currently maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and is open to the public.

Dunluce, Again

2011-11-20T21:31:00.002Z

A closer view of the castle.

While it is believed that there has been a castle here since the 13th century, the first record is in 1513 when it belonged to the MacQuillans.
Parts of the current ruins would have been built at that time.

Following battles in the late 16th century, the MacQuillans lost control of the castle to the Scottish MacDonalds and their Irish counterparts, the MacDonnells.
In 1584, Sorley Boy MacDonnell took control of the castle.

On 26th October 1588, one of the surviving ships from the Spanish Armada, the Girona, was shipwrecked near Dunluce.
Sorley Boy recovered three cannon and two chests of treasure from the wreck. The funds raised from the sale of the treasure were used to improve the castle.

The rest of the treasure from the Girona was recovered during 1967 and 1968 by a team of Belgian divers. This was the greatest amount of Spanish Armada treasure to be recovered from a wrecked ship.
The items found are now displayed in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Dunluce Castle

2011-11-19T20:52:00.003Z

Part of the now-ruined, medieval, Dunluce Castle, a popular tourist attraction on the North Coast.

Ballintoy Harbour

2011-11-17T20:24:00.001Z

This is a corner of Ballintoy Harbour, on the North Coast, a few miles from the Giant's Causeway.

During the last few months several isolated places along the North Coast have hosted the cast and crew from the American television series Game of Thrones.
This series, made by HBO, is mainly filmed in Northern Ireland. Most filming takes place at the Paint Hall Studio in Belfast, with external locations around the country - one of which, in Season Two of the series, is Ballintoy Harbour.

Finn McCool. Or, perhaps, Fionn mac Cumhail?

2011-11-16T20:02:00.014Z

When I first created this blog, I chose to acknowledge the mythical giant Finn McCool.
I live close to the North Coast of Northern Ireland. Only a few miles from the Giant's Causeway, Finn's most famous creation.

There are various conflicting versions of Finn's legendary activities. Until I started doing a little research on these activities, I didn't realise that he was also Fionn mac Cumhail.
Fionn was the leader of the Fianna Eireann, a group whose exploits form part of the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology.

The photo above was taken some years ago in Bushmills, which is a couple of miles inland from the Giant's Causeway.
The picture is on the gable wall of a house. It describes Finn as the 'Defender of Ulster' and has Loyalist paramilitary symbols at the top.

The people who put up the painting see Finn as an Ulster giant and, therefore, a Loyalist like them.
The fact that he pre-dates Protestantism - and probably Christianity as well - obviously escapes them.

They certainly aren't aware of any link with Fionn mac Cumhaill. Not quite the loyalist Defender of Ulster the painter had in mind.

My research showed me that Finn McCool's Country isn't just the Causeway Coast, or even Northern Ireland, it's the island of Ireland.
But that's fine by me...I'm still going to use his name.

Starting Again...

2011-11-15T20:44:00.028Z

Although this blog has been around for several years, it has rarely been used.

It began life as a personal blog, but stopped when I felt I had become too personal.

It's been resurrected a couple of times and eventually finished almost two years ago, with a series of photos taken in Dublin on New Year's Eve 2009.

Now I'm going to take drastic action.

I'm going to delete all the old posts - and make this a new beginning.

Grafton Street

2010-02-11T19:56:00.003Z

Still Dublin, still Christmas!

This is the top end of Grafton Street, seen from the corner of St Stephen's Green. Grafton Street is the city centre's main shopping area.

The Quays

2010-01-30T19:51:00.002Z

The Dublin Quays run for approximately 1.5 miles along the north and south sides of the Liffey.
Viking invaders in the 800's and 900's were probably the first people to create quays along the Liffey. Many Viking artefacts have been found in the vicinity of Wood Quay.
The Quays became the centre of the shipping trade until, in the 1800's, the port gradually moved downriver as a result of the increasing size of the ships.

Above is part of Lower Ormond Quay on the north side of the river, while Wellington Quay, on the south side, is shown below.

Closer View

2010-01-29T22:00:00.002Z

A closer look at Ha'penny Bridge.
Below is the view up-river.

Ha'penny Bridge

2010-01-16T20:05:00.003Z

A view of Ha'penny Bridge, Dublin, looking downriver.
The bridge, built in 1816, replaced the ferries which previously carried pedestrians across the Liffey. The operator of the bridge charged a toll of a half-penny. And so the bridge acquired its' unofficial name. The toll ceased in 1919, but the name has remained.

The tall building in the background is Liberty Hall. The current building was opened in 1965, replacing the earlier Liberty Hall which had been demolished in the late fifties. In 1965 this was the tallest building in Ireland.

The dome to the right of Liberty Hall is the Custom House. Originally opened in 1791, the building was seriously damaged in 1921 by a fire started by the IRA. This fire destroyed many irreplaceable historical records, such as records of births, marriages and deaths.
The loss of these records makes it difficult for the descendants of Irish emigrants to trace their family history.

Tram

2010-01-08T22:43:00.004Z

Trams are a new sight on Dublin's streets since I was last there.
So it was a bit of a shock to discover that the Luas* opened for business on 30th June 2004.

Can it possibly be that long since I walked around the city centre?

* Luas is the Irish word for "speed".

Molly Malone

2010-01-07T19:32:00.003Z

In Dublin's fair city,
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

This statue, at the bottom of Grafton Street, was unveiled in 1988.

The statue has a variety of nicknames, for example, "The Tart with the Cart".
The tart is, perhaps, a reference to her extremely low-cut dress, which, apparently, was justified by the statement, "women breastfed publicly in Molly's time, breasts were popped out all over the place".
This quote comes from the Irish Times, 30th September 1989.

O'Connell Street

2010-01-06T19:26:00.002Z

The General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, Dublin is one of the world's oldest postal headquarters.
This building originally opened for business on 6th January 1818 - 192 years ago to-day.
The statues above the central portico represent Hibernia, in the centre with her harp. On her left is Fidelity and on her right, Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods.
The GPO was badly damaged during the Easter Rising in 1916. It was seized on Easter Monday by members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen's Army. The damage was caused during fighting between the occupants and the British Army, which was trying to regain control of the building.
Bullet marks can still be seen on the columns supporting the central portico.
After the Rising, the building was not formally reopened until 1929, when it became the administrative headquarters of An Post, the Irish Post Office.

The street was originally Drogheda Street, then Sackville Street and, after Irish independence in 1921, re-named O'Connell Street after Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), an Irish politician and patriot.
The photo below is looking up the street, with the O'Connell Monument on the right. The monument was unveiled in 1882.
O'Connell Street was also the scene of further fighting, in July 1922, between the rival sides in the Irish Civil War.

Spike

2010-01-05T23:03:00.003Z

Christmas decorations, with part of the Spire of Dublin in the background.

The Spire, also known as the Monument of Light or, unofficially, as the Spike, is 120 metres (approx 390 feet) high.
It was completed in 2003 and is built on the site of Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street.
Nelson's Pillar, built in 1808, was blown up in 1966. It was seen as a British symbol and was blown up by IRA supporters.

Dublin

2010-01-04T22:24:00.004Z

On New Year's Eve, Dublin was bitterly cold with heavy hail showers. Not a pleasant day for sight-seeing or taking photos.

The Christmas Tree in O'Connell Street.

Christmas

2009-12-24T20:57:00.003Z

We don't often get snow around here.
We had some last winter, but for several years before that there was only an occasional snow shower and hardly any frost.
There isn't a lot of snow this time around, but it's very cold. At least it's cold for us.
Close to the coast the temperature rarely drops too much, but at the moment it's minus 3 or 4 Centigrade during the day and minus 6 or 7 at night.

The trees below are a forest beside the main Coleraine to Limavady road.
I haven't ever seen snow sticking to them like this.
Like a Christmas card.

Below is this afternoon's sunset as seen from the back of my house.

Happy Christmas everyone!!!

Good Day?

2009-12-21T22:26:00.003Z

It isn't just a good day to-day, it's the best day of the year.

This year, 21st December is the shortest day. That's why it's the best day.

From to-morrow we start to move away from the dull, dark December days which precede Christmas.
I don't really mind the dark evenings. When it's cold, wet, windy, frosty or whatever, I like closing the curtains and relaxing. But I hate getting up in the dark. And what really gets to me are the days when it never seems to get clear.

Actually, because of the snow, to-day wasn't such a dark day.

City Hall

2009-12-16T20:10:00.003Z

This is the City Hall in Belfast.
Completed in 1906, for the then enormous (and well over budget) cost of £369,000, it has just undergone a two-year refurbishment costing £11 million. It was officially reopened on 12th October this year by Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State.

The wheel in the background is situated in the grounds to the east of the building. Constructed in late 2007, it was only supposed to remain for a limited time, but it's still there.

The stalls in front of the building are a Continental style Christmas Market. This is based on the markets which are found in many central European cities at this time of year.

When I walked around the market stalls, it definitely wasn't as busy as last year. Only a few people were on the wheel.
A sign of the recessionary times? Or, perhaps, just a sign that both attractions have passed their sell-by date?

Village

2009-10-18T14:18:00.003+01:00

The farmhouse where we stayed was just outside this village.
The name of the village? Well, that depends...it's usually called Gorteen, but it could be spelled and pronounced Gurteen. Or it could be the original Irish, spelled Goirtin.
There's a little hill halfway along the main (only) street, which was my vantage point for the photos.
First, looking to my left...

And, below, looking to the right.

Waterfall

2009-10-09T22:59:00.002+01:00

A little stream crashes over this cliff-face on Ben Bulben and makes its way down to Glencar Lake below.

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. It was taken from the same spot - a roadside lay-by -as the others and, as the waterfall was quite a distance away, the camera was at maximum zoom.

Glencar Lake

2009-10-08T19:41:00.002+01:00

Taken from the same vantage point but looking a little further inland than my last photo, Glencar Lake can be seen below Ben Bulben.

I was intrigued by the house on the far side of the lake, so I zoomed in to get a better look. It's a thatched house but, judging by the detail below, it appears to be a modern reproduction rather than an original.

Ben Bulben

2009-10-05T21:03:00.003+01:00

When writing recently about library books, I mentioned a short break at the end of August. Now it's time to show something of that holiday.

We went 'down South', which means we visited the Republic of Ireland. Well, Co. Sligo to be exact.
As the road from Enniskillen to Sligo approaches its destination it runs alongside Ben Bulben as seen in the photo above.

The mountain is associated with Finn McCool. Or rather, it's associated with his alter-ego, Fionn mac Cumhaill. Legend has it that the warrior, Diamuid, was killed on Ben Bulben by a wild boar after being left alone during a hunt. Years earlier, Diamuid had eloped with Grainne, daughter of the High King. Grainne had been promised to Fionn, so he had his revenge by allowing Diamuid to die alone on the mountain.

A more recent claim to fame for this mountain comes from its connection with the poet, W B Yeats.
The following is an excerpt from Yeats' poem 'Under Ben Bulben'

Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:

Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!

Drumcliff lies beyond, and to the right, of the mountain as seen in the photo.
I visited Yeats grave in the churchyard a few years ago, but this year I drove slowly past on a wet, windy evening looking for Yeats Country Tavern - where we stopped for a meal, before going to visit relatives who live a couple of miles up the road from Drumcliff.

Country Road

2009-08-11T19:24:00.001+01:00

A local farmer - and his dog - taking the cows home to be milked.

(Photo taken through my car windscreen)