Meanwhile in the streets

Gottfried Helnwein

Visiting Saltee Island was a pleasure, but it is the time to return and check out what we have missed while we were away. There are some street scenes and the events that took place in Clonmel and Waterford.

Clonmel Junction festival is the most eventful week in July, filled with live music, street performance, theatre and visual art. Installations of the works A Child for sale by a world renowned artist and Kilsheelan resident Gottfried Helnwein could be seen in various places in the streets of Clonmel.

In my blog post Cry for the Last Child, I wrote about Gottfried and his beautiful castle. His granddaughters Croí and Éala are regular models for his paintings.

Gottfried Helnwein

Lords of Strut  – very talented and very positive comedians from Cork gave a brilliant performance in Clonmel.

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‘Over styled and under dressed’, silly but charming  characters Strut brothers Sean and Seamus,  won the hearts of young and old with their hilarious show, acrobatics, satire and dance.

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The streets of Waterford were not always as deserted as you might think after looking at this picture.

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Historical reenactment of 1916 Easter Rising gathered quite a crowd and took us a hundred years back.

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reenactment

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There is a video of the Reenactment I found on Youtube – I even caught a glimpse of myself in it 🙂

 

All sorts of transportation in The Quay, side by side. I love this street, and I think that most of my Waterford pictures were taken there.

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Irish United Nations Veteran meeting was held in Cathedral Square, just a minute walk from The Quay. Thank you for your service!

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Waterford Spraoi festival is one of a kind. Theatre, music, art, dance and much more is happening in the streets of Waterford on the first weekend of August. Here is my Spraoi 2015 post. I will share only a few pictures this time.

Spraoi orchestra string quartet.

Spraoi

Morbid&Sons, a brand new undertaker business. Way to go, guys!

Morbid&Sons

Tango for all! Dance until dark!

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The sun is setting down and it looks like we are having a rainy day tomorrow 🙂

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Melting gold of the setting sun flows behind the horizon. Darkness comes instead.

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It is a perfect time to see the famous Spraoi monsters in the streets of Waterford City…

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… and listen to the monster style music 🙂

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Don’t be afraid of Spraoi monsters. They are a little bit crazy, but all they want is to have fun.  The only really scary and ugly thing in this world is hate.

Thank you for stopping by and for your interest in Ireland. In my next blog post, we will return to the Ocean and take a very unusual walk 🙂

inesemjphotography Have a wonderful weekend!

155 comments

  3. Inese you are so talented at capturing life on the streets, expressions, dancers, performers, and amusing moments too – the undertaker photo is hilarious. Loved every minute 🙂

      1. Also enjoyed your post and photos of a couple of years’ but couldn’t leave a comment. The post on “Living life to the fullest” resonates with me, completely. 🙂 Too many times I’ve heard people at the end of their life regretting not having done something; for me, this is tragic.

  10. I’ve never heard about Spraoi monsters before. The concept seems interesting ! I think I will have to read more about it. Is the purpose to be as ugly as possible or is there some rules to follow ?

    1. Thank you for stopping by! Monsters come out at 9.30 Sunday night on August bank holiday weekend, and there is a new theme for the parade every year. This year it is Waterford The Musical. Spraoi team is working on the parade show a whole year. I shared the pictures of two floats, but there were probably ten or more, each of them very detailed and well performed. There is their page http://www.spraoi.com/ If you plan going to Ireland, choose the time of a big festival, Like Rose of Tralee, Spraoi, or any other, just to have fun 🙂

  12. Wow! So many wonderful pictures in one blog post!!! Can´t even start to tell you which one I like most, cause I love them all 😀 The b/w pictures are really fantastic, especially the one with the deserted shop-window and the reenactment scene with the drawn guns – like from a film noir, totally awesome! 🙂 Aww – and the tango scenes make me dream, so beautiful… You really have such a wonderful talent to catch the atmosphere and feelings of people with your lense! Have a very beautiful and inspiring sunday and week ahead of you, Inese! Love, Sarah xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ❤

    1. Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Sarah! I had a hard time choosing the reenactment pictures 🙂 The pointed gun was exactly the detail I found very eye-catching. The gun was pointed at no one in particular, which seemed very symbolic to me: in the times of trouble there are too much what they call ‘collateral damage’ – innocent people, children, whoever happen to be around in the wrong place and time when interested forces are fighting against each other.

      Have a wonderful Sunday! ❤

      1. You´re very welcome, Inese! 🙂 Now I can see the special appeal the reenactment picture has, it is infact the very symbol of our times it seems.
        We´re going to have an election of our chancellor this september in Germany and I wonder if people are going to vote again for Angela Merkel, what with her refugee policy… I for one think she does a great job, even though I don´t like her party. But many (stupid!) people don´t like what she did and I feel there´s going to be a change. If that happens the coloteral damage you mentioned might get even bigger…:(

  13. This reminds me of a show I enjoyed recently called Rebellion, which follows several fictional and historical people who took part in the Easter Rising. Wonderful photos, as always!

  14. So, so beautiful as always. You’ve such a gift for capturing PEOPLE, their essence and liveliness. Even that shadow-shot breathes. These images speak. (wistful sigh) One of these days I’m getting back there…

  15. What an amazing place with something for everyone! You captured it all with your bold photos. You do city life as well as the country. Excellent post! I love learning about life in Ireland!

    1. Thank you for stopping by! There is so much going on in the streets. Art festivals are always so colorful and performers from all over the world come over to take part.

  20. You do such a nice job of showing us the people…the fun, the solemnity, and I could almost hear the different kinds of music. I find the Helnwein installations very unsettling, but that’s the point, isn’t it…

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