Visit ireland

Great Height of Ardmore, Co Waterford

Last week I visited with a friend in Ardmore – a little village in Co Waterford. We ate ice cream, watched the tide, and talked to strangers. I took a few pictures, added a few more from my previous visits, and made up this post.

On my very first visit to Ardmore a good few years ago I was puzzled watching the crowd that surrounded a boulder resting on the seabed after the tide went out.

It didn’t look different from the other rocks , so I didn’t investigate any further and headed up to the cliff walk trail. On the way back the boulder was already covered in water, so I let it go at that.

Only years after I learned that there was a story.

In the 5th century Declan of Ardmore, an early Irish saint of the Deisi Muman ( Vassals of Munster) and the founder of Ardmore Monastery travelled to Rome to be consecrated as Bishop. Declan received a gift from heaven while celebrating the Eucharist – a golden bell. A monk Runanus travelling with Declan from Wales to Ireland forgot to take the sacred bell and Declan was very upset. Yet, his prayers for the bell’s safety were answered and a boulder carrying his bell miraculously floated upon the waves all the way from Wales and finally stopped on the shore where Declan founded his church and a monastery – in the place called Aird Mhor – Great Height.

During the Declan Pattern, which is observed on the feast day of the saint (July 24), pilgrims crawl under the boulder (which is resting on two smaller stones) as a cure for arthritis.

St. Declan’s Way is a pilgrim route that begins in Ardmore and ends in Cashel in County Tipperary. It is 56 miles in length and crosses the Knockmealdown Mountains via a high 1,762 foot pass.

Great Height is a right name for the area. A beautiful cliff walk trail around Ram Head takes you high over the sea, and it begins from the ruins of St. Declan’s Church and Holy Well. The well served as a Baptistry to the early Christian missionaries, while the church served as St. Declan’s hermitage.

The Well has two entrances. There used to be three crosses on the top of it: the cross on the left representing the unrepentant thief, the central cross representing Christ and the cross on the right representing the repentant thief. The cross from the left side is gone: either stolen by some unrepentant thief, or it had broken off and rolled down to the sea.

The first cross is the one from the church, the second – the middle one from the well. They are dated back to the 5th century.

There are many other interesting things and places along the trail.

The Watchtower was built in 1800 as a part of the Napoleonic defenses built along the coast of Ireland.

A wreck of a crane ship – the Samson – that was blown ashore in 1978.

Fr. O’Donnell’s Well was built in 1928 and named after Fr O’Donnell who used to come there and read.

St. Declan founded a monastery in Ardmore prior to the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland, (between 350 and 450 A.D.) The original monastery does not exist anymore, but the ruins of the cathedral that was built over the monastery site are well preserved and located on the hill overlooking the sea. It has features dating from as early as the 9th Century.

The remnants of St. Declans Oratory and an old cemetery are also located here. St. Declan’s Oratory is the oldest building in the graveyard near the Cathedral. It is believed that the grave of St. Declan is located within the building.

Some of the gravestones have been worn down and look like old teeth protruding from the ground.

The round tower at Ardmore was built in the 12th Century and raises at the height of 97 feet. The entrance doorway is about 13 feet from the ground, making the tower a safe place for the monks.

Some graves bear a more modern look.

Ardmore is not only a monastic place. This building is a lot of fun – it is not real, the same as the donkey.

The doors and the windows are painted on the wall.

There are many towns in the USA named Ardmore, but an American novelist Nora Roberts has made Ardmore, Co Waterford the location for her ” Gallaghers of Ardmore” trilogy: Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon and Heart of the Sea.

Hope you like this tour around Ardmore.

Have a great week!

A look through the Waterford Crystal

I see them every day – soaking wet, miserable groups of tourists trudging up the Henrietta Street in the direction of the best known tourist attraction in Ireland: the House of Waterford Crystal. This post is dedicated to them. In this post I share the images I took yesterday, and the ones that are ten years old. But first the story.

In 1674 George Ravenscroft discovered the technique of adding lead oxide to the silica mixture used to make glass. This resulted in a new type of glass with great clarity which melted easier and could be blown, shaped and cut. There is no uniform definition of “crystal”, but in European Union, the glass products containing at least 24% of lead oxide may be referred to as “lead crystal”, and the products containing less lead (or other metal) oxide are called “crystal glass”.

A number of glass factories were established in Ireland in the 1700’s, mostly on the east coast close to ports since the glass making process required a constant and ready supply of coal.

The glass made at this time was quite similar in style to the cut crystal we know today and in fact, some of the patterns used then are still used in modern ranges.

In 1783 the Penrose brothers established a glass manufactory in Waterford city. It is not related to the modern Waterford Crystal company, but somehow is usually claimed to be a part of its history. Anyway, the Penroses invited a great glass manufacturer of Stourbridge – Mr. John Hill, who had taken with him the best set of workmen he could get, and who knew the secrets of mixing the glass materials. The business flourished. After a few years John Hill left Waterford, and after that the factory had been having its ups and downs, but kept struggling decade after decade until it ceased production in 1851. A whole century there was no glass production in Waterford.

The history of modern Waterford Crystal starts in 1947 when a Czech glass manufacturer Karel (Charles) Bacik emigrated to Ireland and settled in Waterford. In partnership with a Dublin gift-shop owner Bernard Fitzpatrick, he started Waterford Glass. They persuaded a great glass craftsman Miroslav Havel to join them. Havel recruited skilled craftspeople from traditional glassmaking areas of Europe, set up training and apprenticeship programs for Irish personnel, and designed new product ranges. He visited the National Museum and made drawings from the collections of original Penrose Waterford Glass. The factory progressed and made its first profits in 1955.

During the 1960’s and 1970’s demand for Waterford Crystal went up dramatically. The factory was doing great through the 1980’s but started experiencing financial problems in 1990’s. The last and the greatest success was the 6-foot diametric crystal ball made in the factory – the Times Square New Years Eve Millennium Ball that was lowered down the pole during the New Year 2000 countdown. Ironically, it started the Waterford Crystal’s countdown: Waterford Crystal Manufacturing ceased to exist in Waterford city in January 2009. The brand is now co-owned by a US venture capital company KPS, Wedgewood and Royal Doulton (WWRD). In 2010 a new tourism-oriented manufacturing facility and retail outlet reopened in Waterford. The facility offers guided factory tours.

These images are taken in 2005 at the old Waterford Crystal factory workshops.

A glass-blower in action.

The glass is ready for the cutting process. The first vase from the left still has the top to be cut off.

The markings show the future pattern.

In the master’s hands the glass becomes a piece of art.

I was very impressed with this artwork: the girl and the road are cut on the opposite sides of the vase creating a 3D effect.

This sad St. Patrick is a very popular design.

One of the trophy bowls.

This one-horse carriage from 2005 is remarkably upgraded:

its 2015 version – in the image below.

The prices are also “upgraded” : this carriage will cost you 30.000 Euro.

The entrance and reception desk at the House Of Waterford Crystal today.

The place is always busy with tourists.

Elaborated chandeliers reflected in the ceiling mirror.

Crystal and silverware on display.

They are still making these funny things, but the prices are very serious – 15.000-30.000 a piece.

There are lots of Christmasy designs, and no discounts, regardless of the season. I think this vase looks very neat.

This was my favorite: the window frame and the room interior are cut on the opposite sides of the vase ( the same as the girl and the road, ten years ago).

I also loved these two – a vase and a bowl.

The seahorse is a trademark of Waterford Crystal designed by Mr. Havel himself. The harp is another trademark that is slowly replacing the seahorse in the recent years. This one can be bought for 40.000 Euros.

After you make a purchase, your artwork of choice can get engraved.

There is another small company set up by the former Waterford Crystal glassmakers – The Irish Handmade Glass Co. It is situated at the Kite Design Studio, Henrietta Street, Waterford. Visitors are welcome to watch the crystal masters at work with no charge.

The tourists returning from the House of Waterford Crystal seldom stop here. Some of them stubbornly walk through the rain to the Reginald Tower, but majority hurry down the street to the dry haven of their hotel rooms. Tourism in Ireland can be challenging…

Instead of a song, I am posting a video reportage that takes you back in time. For Waterford Crystal, it was a triumph of fame.

Have a great week!

Simple things

In Grafton Street, Dublin, you never get bored: an army of street performers takes care of your entertainment. Stationed along the path, they do their best to impress the by-passers and earn some cash. Grafton street is only 180 m long and 6 m wide, but that afternoon at least nine talented performers gathered crowds and made the street lively providing all sort of amusements.

The biggest and the most happily looking crowd surrounded a young couple creating giant soap bubbles.

Simplicity and magic of their performance was truly fascinating.

The little ones ran around catching the bubbles; the grown-ups just stood there, staring in awe.

Simple things. What our life would look like without them?

Cuteness of a baby animal; a delicate flower…

… a green leaf…

… a barley spikes moving in the wind…

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” – Italian actress Eleonora Duse

Even successful relationships are based on accumulation of the simple things that people do together. Simple like that.

One of my favorites – Zero 7 and their album Simple Things.

Zero 7 – Simple Things

Have a great weekend!

The lion and the lamb

Fota Wildlife Park – the most amazing place in Ireland! It opened its gates in 1983, and since then it remains one of Ireland’s top ten visitor attractions, and a perfect place to spend a day for visitors of all ages. Most of the animals who inhabit the park are allowed to roam throughout more than 50 acres of grassland, with the exception of the cheetahs and other predators. Almost “The Lion and the Lamb” settings 🙂

King Julien XIII and his people together with many other animals are free ranging in the Park and mingle with the visitors. I just couldn’t help taking their portraits ( hundreds).

We were lucky to come across a whole Ring-tailed Lemur gang sitting in the tree. In the beginning I thought there were only two animals, but all of a sudden they started falling off the tree like ripe pears.

Six or seven Lemurs jumped from the tree, one after another, and run away. We met two of them again. They were perching within a stretched arm distance, pretending to ignore us. I didn’t see the others, but I knew that they were hiding somewhere near.

There is a pond surrounding the Monkey Island. All the water fowl are free ranging, but the edge of the pond is surprisingly clean.

Many animals In Fota Wildlife Park are allowed to roam free, while mixed with other species. A tiny barrier stops the human visitors from trespassing. Rothschild Giraffe is another beautiful species living in the Park together with Zebras and female Ostriches.

Foggy Irish countryside in background.

The Monkey Island is a home for monkeys, of course. In Fota Wildlife Park they have chosen the species that can be allowed to roam in a free range environment, and are not aggressive to each other.

This is an Agile Gibbon – an old one, and a mother with a baby.

This is a Howler monkey female.

Fota Wildlife Park is home to the Scarlet, Green winged and Blue & Gold Macaws. The birds roost high up in trees, and while the species have bred at Fota in the past, there haven’t been any young hatched in recent years.

Over 200 Cheetah cubs have been born in Fota since 1985. Fota also has Ireland’s only Cheetah Run. The device keeps the Cheetahs active, while maintaining their wild instincts. The food is suspended on a wire that travels 10 feet off the ground, at approximately 65km/h. Hundreds of spectators gather to watch the Cheetahs feeding at 3pm every day. Cheetahs and a few other species live in fenced enclosures.

The weather wasn’t good, it was raining. We thought we would have the island for ourselves. Well, we had to go around to find a parking spot. Always busy in Fota.

I share my birthday with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I am very proud of that – I loved his books before I found out when his birthday was. His most-read novella, The Little Prince, is translated into more than 250 languages, and selling two millions copies every year. I have a copy like this one.

There are two the most cited quotes in the novella: On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux – “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” And the other: Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé – “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” I thought about both of them in Fota, watching young children reverently feed the waterfowl. For them, this trip was looked forward to with a great deal of excitement, discussions and research. New names were learned, new discoveries made, but the greatest of all the experiences they got here is that change in heart that can become a prelude to many other beautiful experiences.

Thank you for visiting Fota Island with me!

Photography tip of the day: When taking photographs of animals definitely change your focus to a “Single point” and focus on the eye, otherwise your camera will automatically focus on the point closest to the lens – which is animal’s nose.

Have a great weekend!

Castle and Peacocks

I learned to read very early: the magic of putting the letters together opened the whole world to me. One of my first books was a photo anthology of European capitals. Very little text and a lot of pictures, but when you are four even very little text is too much, and architecture is not your idea of fun. The only worthy images in the book were those of Zoo animals.

I memorized their names. I hadn’t been taken to the Zoo yet, but living in the farm with my Grandparents, surrounded by forests and bogs and all sort of wildlife I appreciated the variety of species… I don’t remember seeing much of exotic animals on TV until the mid of the 60s, except some cartoons, so the photographs in that book were my only source of knowledge. The most beautiful of all the animals in the book was a peacock. In my imagination I pictured him walking in our back yard where my Granddad’s blue, green and brown beehives were sitting in the lush grass. My imagination painted the bird in pink, purple and gold: the pictures in that old book were black & white…

I want to share a few images from my recent visit of Johnstown Castle and Park, Co Wexford. If you want to go there some day, here you can find useful information about the tickets and directions.

As you can see, the weather was gradually getting better. Cranky grey morning turned into the perfect sunny afternoon. Photographers are wandering around the castle looking for a good composition.

Since the days I was four I learned to love architecture, but still I visit Johnstown castle mostly because of the peacocks.

Their beautiful plumage hasn’t fully grown yet at this time of the year, so I didn’t take any breathtaking images of a peacock in his full glory. I was simply happy to be close and watch them.

A bold one came to me to check out if I had any snacks.

After getting some pieces of French toast he settled in front of me.

I don’t remember when I found out that peacocks are not pink and purple, but I was right about the gold.

There are two images of the trees taken into the sun. I loved trees before I learned to read.

After that I went to the lake and took all the pictures I posted in REFLECTIONS. This is how the castle looks from the lake.

Thank you for visiting Johnstown Castle with me! Do you remember what animal or bird impressed your young mind? 🙂

Photography tip of the day: Horizontal means horizontal. Keep your camera straight. Of course you can straighten your images with the editing software, but sometimes it means losing the details that are important for your composition.

Have a great week!