Ireland 2022
The world famous Ashford Castle.
We spent our first night in Adare. Here is a traditional Irish house with a thatched roof.
More thatched roofs.
Aer Lingus lost our luggage so we stopped in this small town called Listowel to buy a few essential clothes. We eventually received our luggage 10 days later.
A scene from our drive around the Dingle Peninsula.
The Dingle Peninsula.
The town of Dingle was a bustling place.
An early morning photo of a seagull cleaning itself.
An old bridge entering Dingle.
A trap at the dock in Dingle.
As we departed on a small boat for Blasket Islands this rider and her horse was exercising along the beach.
The Irish found good use for all the rocks strewn across the fields. They built fences with them everywhere.
A tiny Blasket Island.
A muir enjoying a relaxing moment on the calm water.
We landed on this small island to see stone houses, most of them abandoned long ago but this one was nicely preserved.
Another small island.
The Irish love their sheep.
The ruins on Blasket Island.
As we navigated around the islands ccasionally a seal would pop its head up to check us out.
Our group of 18 photographers were all trying to capture a puffin in flight. This was the best I could do.
These birds look like Muirs but the end of their beaks looks different.
Julie and I love photographing puffins. We've chased them across the north Atlantic. We saw only a few in Ireland.
The rocky cliffs of the Blasket Islands
This seal found a nice spot to sun herself.
A gannet diving into the water. The splash in the foreground is from another gannet plunging into the water. This was a lucky capture on my part.
Gannet close up.
The underside of a gannet passing overhead. I'm so glad it didn't drop anything.
I had the front seat on our bus and captured a few views as we drove through the countryside. The roads are very narrow, especially for a bus.
Bikers on very narrow roads. Not nearly as bike-friendly as in the Netherlands.
On the west coast of Ireland near the town of Ennistimon we spent a few hours at the famous Cliffs of Moher. This is a small castle-like structure at the high point of the cliffs.
Another view of the Cliffs of Moher, known as Irelands most iconic landmark.
April flowers along the rugged Cliffs of Moher.
Just to show you we were there sporting our new jackets that we purchased because of lost luggage.
Ireland is known for its bluebell flowers.
At a cemetery we visited this structure caught my eye which was likely the ruins of a small church.
We had a fun visit to a sheep ranch. The rancher sent his sheep dog after these sheep and they came a running.
While at the sheep ranch this lamb was born. He struggled mightily to stand on his four legs.
At the ranch we were treated to some Irish music by this gentleman and then some pastries. It was a fun morning.
Rural Ireland. Narrow roads, stone fences, green fields.
As we were cruising down the highway (narrow way) we saw this castle. We made a quick stop to photograph it and moved on.
We were loading the bus to leave Galway when I made a last minute visit to the toilet and this is what I saw. I rushed out, grabbed my camera, and took this photo. I almost forgot why I came in here.
We met this fellow on our walking tour of Galway.
This is Kylemore Abbey, a beautiful structure. We had lunch here and then toured the building.
The Ashford Castle was built in 1228 and is now a luxury hotel. We stayed here two nights enjoying the splendid grounds of this facility.
On the grounds of Ashford Castle.
Leading to the Gardens at Ashford Castle.
Looking at Ashford Castle from across the Cong River.
