I include below images of just a few of my pen and watercolour sketches of a variety of waterfront scenes in different parts of Europe to which I have travelled. Click on any one to view a slide show of all the images and locations in larger format . . .
Tag Archives: Eire
Killarney
[ Photo Blog #54 ]
One of the highlights of my visit to the South West of Ireland in 2003 was a tour by horse-drawn Jaunting (or jaunty) Car of Killarney’s Muckross House and gardens and of the world famous Killarney National Park and its lakes and mountains.
A still extant relic of the reign of Queen Victoria
This nineteenth century Victorian mansion is set against the stunning beauty of Killarney National Park.
The jaunty car taxi rank
By Killarney’s Lakes and Fells
A pause to take in the view
The Ruins of Killegy Chapel
In the graveyard of Killegy Chapel
Wild flowers in the Graveyard overlooking the lake
Tree growing inside the roofless nave of the chapel
The roofless chapel
Close-up view of a memorial – now open to the sky.
Return to Mucross House
Dublin, City of a Thousand Welcomes
Dublin has many such beautiful doorways dating from the Georgian period
This one photo is from Pinterest – the others are all my own
Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, is a beautiful city. It is an absolute delight to wander around the lush green parks and open spaces, especially on a sunny afternoon. My first visit, many years ago, was in torrential rain. A lorry driver who generously gave a lift, southwards from the city, to two itinerant hitch-hikers, welcomed us with the comment, “Ireland is beautiful – just needs a bloody great umbrella over it”. My second and third visits were in delightful sunshine which showed off the city’s exquisite Georgian architecture and its many monuments and statues to great advantage. I add below a gallery of photographs taken during my last visit in 2010 …
Sea approach to Dublin Harbour
The Aviva Stadium – formerly Landsdowne Road Stadium – venue for major rugby and football matches
St. Patrick’s Cathedral – Church Of Ireland. Founded in 1191, its 43 metres high spire makes it the tallest church in Ireland.
Ivy covered Georgian Terrace houses
Georgian-style Bay Windows
Front façade of St.Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre
Memorial Stone in St.Stephen’s Green Park, to Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, (1831-1915) a former Fenian Leader.
Statue in St. Stephen’s Green Park, to Wolfe Tone a leading figure of the Irish Independence Movement
The Papal Cross in Phoenix Park commemorates the Pope’s visit to Dublin in 1979
The Wellington Testimonial Obelisk in Phoenix Park. Arthur Wellesley, ‘The Iron Duke’, general and politician, was born in Ireland.
The Ring of Kerry
At Beenarourke, County Kerry, Eire … Photo – WHB, 2003
If you ever go across the sea to Eire,
You will love it and be glad that you have been.
I can recommend you travel south to Kerry,
Then you will see the sights that I have seen.
You certainly should try the Ring of Kerry,
Just to watch the sun go down over the sea.
The beauty of its coastline is amazing,
No better in the world you will agree.
You can take a jaunty car out from Killarney,
Visit Muckross House, Ross Castle and Moll’s Gap.
You won’t find better views elsewhere in Ireland
However much you scour an Irish map.
You may even meet a travelling musician
Playing his squeeze box to the listening crowd.
He sings of love with lots of Irish blarney,
With wit he shares his history out loud.
At Beenarourke you’ll find Our Lady watching;
She silently observes the passers-by.
The circling helicopter keeps a lookout,
This Trinity enhance their Irish sky.
As well as ‘pinching’, with only the slightest of alterations, the first line of the well-known Irish song, ‘Galway Bay’, I have composed the verses above in the same form and metre as the well-known Irish song, ‘Galway Bay’. If you know the tune, and should you feel so inclined, you should be able to fit my words to it. To refresh the memory of any who don’t know or remember the original words, I give below the lyrics of the first and last verses . . .
If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You can sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.
And if there’s gonna be a life here after,
And faith somehow I’m sure there’s gonna be,
I will ask my God to let me make my Heaven,
In that dear land across the Irish sea.
 jaunty car – an open two-wheeled one-horse cart formerly widely used in Ireland |
On The Waterfront
Six of my Pen & Wash paintings – all of European coastal towns . . .
Hydra, Greece, one of the Saronic Islands in the Aegean Sea … WHB
Blackpool, Lancashire, England … WHB.
Le Touquet, Normandy Coast, France … WHB
Oporto on the River Douro, Portugal … WHB.
Cobh and St.Colman’s Cathedral, nr. Cork, Eire … WHB
Yachting in the Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean … WHB
Roland's Ragbag 