5 Star

The past couple of weeks seem to have flashed past with hardly a spare moment. I did spend a day photographing the Leitrim Marina Hotel, which has just reopened under new management. It's in a great location on the banks of the Shannon, with its own moorings. The new owners and staff are very welcoming and professional and hopefully the hotel will prosper. It was good to hear that live music and jazz sessions will be regular events there. Here are a few pictures.

Party Pics

It was Julie's 40th birthday last weekend and we had a bit of a bash to celebrate. While it wasn't exactly a surprise party, she didn't know too many of the details beforehand. There was a great turnout of friends and family, and it was especially good to see people we hadn't caught up with for a while. With all the preparations I forgot to charge the camera battery, so here are just a few from the night. Thanks to all in Brunos, John & Chris in Henrys and Joey and John in the Leitrim Marina Hotel for looking after everyone and helping to make it a great night.


James Wycombe put together a fine bunch of musicians to get the feet tapping.


On their showing on Saturday, these two should be in the Riverdance troupe -

It was the first night my Da has been out for a few months, but it'll be hard to keep him in now after his triumphant return.



Have you seen this man? Reward offered.

Empty Rooms

One of the things that struck me when we moved back to this part of Ireland was that despite being in the middle of a property boom, there are lots of empty derelict houses scattered around the countryside. Most of them were well-built, in their own ground, but are left to go to rack and ruin. Meanwhile, legoland housing estates are being thrown up on the edges of our towns and villages, in some cases completely altering their characters. In many cases I guess, the key was turned in the door for the last time back in the 1950s or 60s as people left for New York, Boston or Sydney, never to return. Here are a few, all from within a few miles radius of where we live.
Now that the property market has seized up, it might time to photograph some of the vacant suburbs that have sprung up in the last few years.

Ice T

The recent cold snap has meant that roads have been dangerous and icy for the past couple of days, as the driver of this mushroom lorry discovered in Battlebridge today. He said it started to slide on the bridge and though he managed to keep it on the road, when he got to the t-junction 150 yards further on he just couldn't make the turn. Luckily, nobody was hurt and no serious damage done.