The butter tasted divine.

Traditional butter making

…..as did the Poitín……

Get that into you….

There’s always plenty of animals to see, everything from goats, sheep, cows, pigs, dogs, ducks and horses. One of the main attractions is always the farriers and it’s not very often you’ll get to see two legged shoeing! This is when two farriers work together and shoe two legs on the one horse at the same time.

Two legged horse shoeing

And of course there’s always a bit of buying and selling. This time a chicken or hen (can never tell the difference) is carefully bundled into a fertiliser bag en route to his/her new home.

Chicken take away….

So these are just a few snaps of the goings on in Dunderry on Fair day. You can see more of the set over on my Pix.ie or have a look at the Dunderry website for more info.

First things first, the balloon has to be transported to the launch site and this is done is the back of a trailer. The envelope (balloon to you and me) is packed away in a big bag and has to be dragged  off the trailer by the crew. That’s Pauline’s arse on the right that she asked me not to shoot!

Pull…..

Then comes the inflation bit. To start off the envelope is attached to the basket (always a good idea) and to get it going a couple of big fans blow cold air into it. That’s where the passengers start to get roped in to helping out. In all fairness they love it.

He’s a big fan….

Of course inflating a big balloon like the Hunky Dory one needs all hands on deck so the passengers join in and lend a hand. This time holding the envelope as the hot air is blown in and the balloon starts to rise. Naturally I missed the shot of the day when this gentleman lost his grip and fell flat on his arse. Mind you I probably wouldn’t have published it to save his embarrassment. Then again, knowing me, I’d have made a whole blog post out of it…..

Holding on for dear life…..

Speaking of embarrassment……not everyone is comfortable with lifting off the ground in a wicker basket and a balloon overhead.  To be fair, she was fine and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sometimes people are worried before take off….

Eventually we had lift off and they headed into the great blue yonder.

Take off….

So we waved good bye to the balloon and hopped into the recovery vehicles. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about. Someone has to go and get the balloon back along with the passengers and crew who have been taken by the wind and deposited somewhere many miles away.

To keep track of the balloon, the most modern and sophisticated systems are used. Forget Sat Nav, GPS and satellites. The system used is much more advanced, it’s called LOTW – short for Looking Out The Window.

Keeping track of the balloon….

So we’ve followed the balloon for miles using our sophisticated tracking system and eventually it lands in a field. Quick phone call to the landowner and we have permission to drive through the flood inside his gate to retrieve the balloon. This is where 4WD, slip diffs and chunky tyres come into their own!

Wee drop of water…

So after crossing the Shannon and reaching the balloon it’s time to pack up. This is where the traditional “Balloon Dance” takes place. Usually some local school kids are enlisted to perform the ritual “jump up and down like mad things” on the bag to get rid of all the air.

Dancing at the crossroads…..

So after all that everyone is down safely and there are smiles all round. A balloon flight is one of those things you should do before you die. It’s a unique experience, nothing like an airplane or helicopter flight as it is so much more peaceful and calm than any other way of flying and you get to see the countryside in a unique way.

Look up Balloons.ie for more info and if you want to see the rest of the photos have a look at my Pix.ie set.

This time I thought I’d post up a few photos with a red theme, for no particular reason other than they have a red theme……..who needs a reason?

First up was the Caution Red Door with a nice red path leading up to it. 

Caution Red Door

Once in through the red door, we were greeted by this elevator shaft painted in a nice bright red. Very trendy altogether. The lift was a big industrial sized affair which served the four floors of production above, presumably hauling raw materials up and finished product back down.

Going up

In the same room was this magnificent weighing scales which presumably was used to weigh the goods before sending them up the lift. To the left of the scales (out of shot) was the actual weighing platform set into the ground onto which they could wheel a pallet.

Weigh in time

This scales was in remarkably good condition which goes to show what good security on a building can do. If this place was left unguarded then stuff like this would be ripped out in a jiffy. As urbexers we believe in leaving nothing behind but footprints and taking nothing but photographs so we were happy to get to see the inside of this beautiful building and equally happy to leave it as we found it.

Through the door and down the stairs…

Time for a few more shots from a recent explore. After climbing across an attic I came out into this top floor room with a lovely arched door leading to a staircase. They just don’t make doors like this any more. The pigeon shit on the floor is courtesy of the resident pigeon population living in the attic and they duly frightened the crap out of me as I crossed the attic in the dark.

Bath time….

Hard to believe the residents actually used these communal baths. Then I suppose this was all pre shower days so they knew no different. Cool baths though, cast iron and weighed a ton!

Ten Hail Marys…..

It really is odd when you walk into a room and see something like this.. Of course when you look close it isn’t real, it’s just a set that was used in a well known movie. Still it wouldn’t have been out of place in this building as religion played a big part in its history.

You can see the full set of images over on Pix.ie

Looking out over the Skelligs

This years Danny O’Brien Memorial Photowalk brought us down to his favourite spot, Valentia Island in Kerry. I’m sure it brought back lots of fond memories for Phil, Dónall and Kate, no more so than when we walked up to the top of Bray Head and looked out over the Skelligs.

A quiet time for reflection

It was also a time to sit and reflect and enjoy what has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s no wonder Danny loved it so much.

The happy couple

Of course as well as celebrating Danny, we also had another major celebration with the engagement of Dónall and Aisling. Big congratulations to both of you and may you be happy together in the coming years.

The long track

What a fantastic weekend we had down on Valentia Island where we remembered Danny O’Brien and celebrated Dónall and Aisling’s engagement. Great weekend, great company and great craic was had by all. Now Valentia is a long way away for all of us that travelled so I thought I’d put a few long roads from the island into this post.

The first one above was at the back of the candle factory where photography was banned!

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Next up is the famous “pub” from the Guinness ad with yet another long road running beside it.

Long way down

Then there was the gorgeous view towards Portmagee and the bridge as you descended Bray Head.

Long way to go……

Of course to come down from Bray Head, you had to go up in the first place and this was the trek that faced us. Not too difficult and the views from the top were spectacular.

You can see the rest of the set over on Pix.ie

Looking great for 93

I had the pleasure of shooting Liam T. Cosgrave, who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977. He attended a “Gathering” event in my old school, James’s St. CBS where his father, W.T. Cosgrave was a past pupil and one of the founders of the Irish Free State. For a man of his age he is in remarkably good health and is just about to celebrate his 93′rd birthday shortly.

We wish him well.

This day back in 19……..

For the day that’s in it I thought I’d dig out the old wedding album and scan a shot from it. This day back many many moons ago myself and herself tied the knot. Before I go any further I’d better give credit to the photographer in case I run into copyright trouble! He was Peter Farrell from North King Street and I suspect he was like most other togs back then in that he’d shoot 36 photos and we’d pick 24 from them for the album. Bit different from todays togs some of whom have been known to shoot 2000 images at one wedding – spray & pray!

Anyway, back to us. It was a different world back then. We actually had our house bought in Trim a year before we were married. Moving in together before marriage was’t even considered – how times have changed. It never even crossed our minds to consider “living together” before getting married as it just wasn’t done. Our parents wouldn’t have allowed it anyway.

Of course a photographer at your wedding was essential, but back then video had only started to make an appearance. We hadn’t booked a videographer but on the morning of our wedding someone said they knew someone with a video camera and that he might do it. Cool, we were going to have video too. The video guy lived in Drimnagh, not far from our church in Rialto so he was duly hired for the princely sum of a tenner, a meal and a few drinks – result! So what do you get for a tenner? Well the funniest wedding video ever! Lots of shaky camera, dodgy voice overs, no editing, ham acting (by us) and some amazing special effects. Those special effects included smoke – basically whoever had the camera in their hand inevitably had a cigarette too, so the smoke drifted up past the lens adding “atmosphere” to the scene.

Still all those years later and we’re still together and I still love her as much now as I did back then.

Amphibious vehicle?

Before you jump to conclusions, I’m not gay with a sudden urge to tell everyone :-)

This is just a few photos from today’s Daft Raft Race on the River Boyne in Trim. This annual event takes place on St. Patrick’s Day and raises a few quid for various charities. Groups get together and build crazy rafts that will hopefully make it the few hundred metres along the river to the finish line. When it started a few years ago most of the rafts would disintegrate fairly quickly ditching the poor occupants unceremoniously into the river. However engineering skills have improved and now most of them make it to the end in one piece.

This doesn’t lend itself to capturing funny images so rather than shoot the rafts merrily sailing by I thought I’d capture some of them as the came out of the water.

The ISS it ain’t!

The good folks at River Rescue were on hand to help out where needed. I think these guys got the award for “Best Swimmers”

All hands off deck

Sometimes “Coming Out” isn’t easy……..

Up the proverbial creek with a paddle

One of the many volunteers who kept an eye on proceedings.

The Papal Express

These guys kept it topical in their Papal Express. They deservedly won the “Best Costume” award. Despite the miserable weather a great day was had by all. Fair play to all who took part, the huge crowd that turned out to cheer them on and the volunteer stewards who kept everyone safe.

Take a seat

One thing we regularly come across during our urban exploration adventures is chairs and one photograph that is eternally popular is the “Lonely chair” shot. Of course I love them myself so here’s a selection from last weekends trip down south. We did two explores, the first of which was an abandoned hotel in what has to be one of the most beautiful locations in the country. Can’t understand why it went belly up back around 2005 or so. The first photo is an armchair in the reception area.

Playing with flash and gels

Next up was a chair in one of the function rooms. I brought my flashes and fitted them with red and green gels for a bit of off camera flash fun. Red flash to the left aimed at the chair and the green one was on the right behind some decorative railings – hence the shadows on the wall. We don’t usually bring flash as we’re usually trying to be discreet but this place was bricked up and no one was ever going to see the lights. Speaking of discreet, we also try to be quiet so as not to attract any attention. Being quiet does NOT involve ringing the church bell to alert the whole parish, but that’s another story for another post. Take note Jonathan!

Waiting to get in

We came across this lonely chair outside the entrance to the night club. Not a great photo but it’s what we found. Down here was pitch black so the chair was lit by my head torch with me shaking my head like a mad thing – hence the peculiar shadows.

Shame to see places like this going to rack and ruin but the upside is we get to visit them and document them in their twilight years.

Check out my urbex buddy’s blog and the rest of the set on Pix.ie.