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The second garden group event took place today. This time to Irelands Eye.
It was an amazing day. And to that some notes of thanks are due. To the legend that is Diarmuid O’Cathasaigh of The Howth Peninsula Historical Society, who spoke to us about the island and to Mary Stephenson who introduced me to Diarmuid – thank you so very much. It put meaning to the journey.
To the skipper of The Little Flower, Mark Doyle of Island Ferries. You are Sir, a gentleman and I wouldn’t sail in any other boat.
To the people I spent the day with… I applaud you and thank you. Absolute Ladies and gentlemen.
To the island itself… I did try to edit the story teller [the video of him that is] that is Diarmuid [and I could have rewritten what he told me]… but the guy is a legend and I just couldn’t do it. Want to know about Irelands Eye…. really ?
From the famous murder to why martello is actually incorrect spelling. From the year 200 AD to Napoleon and why Howth has 2 of everything…. it’s all there.
All I know is, prior to this trip, I could find very little information on Irelands Eye, including 3-ish photographs and some information on wiki…
This video is the ultimate guide to a history of Irelands Eye. The day out… one I will never forget.
My advice if you are going…
- Get on well with skipper Mark – that’s if you wish to plan in advance. He is a marine engineer by trade and a gentleman by nature.
- Wear long trousers and hiking boots, not necessary, just better.
- Bring a picnic including a hot drink and water And sun screen and water proofs.
- Relax and enjoy. Worth every cent… more than that, every minute.
- The boat rip costs €15 and if the tide is with you takes about 15 minutes
- I recommend you spend a good 2 -3 hours there
- There is much more than the martello tower there [see images]
- Anything else…
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- see more of my pictures of Irelands eye
looking for more information
- Jenny took this wonderful shot of Diarmuid O’Cathasaigh
- George and Jenny took some great images of Irelands Eye here – including the top of the Martello Tower
- The ideal picture of a Puffin was taken by Stephen and it is also well worth checking out the rest of his Irelands Eye images – some brill flora pics and some of the old church in there too.
- Sarah took an amazing pic of this pair of puffins *and there are more amazing photos of Irelands Eye – my favourite is the image called power point. A power point on Irelands Eye ?
- The genius that is Jenny took these spectacular shots of Irelands Eye. My favourite in here is called ‘Are We Having A Good Time’. Love it!
- John Williams also took this genius shot of three puffins on Irelands Eye
- Blaithín summarised the journey to Irelands Eye so very well over at Culch.ie. Really do like her story telling technique
- Anthony has a great synopsis of the Irelands Eye day out over at his blog
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Superb trip – Diarmuid’s talk was brilliantly entertaining and informative and the day was excellent. It’s amazing to see these little wonders that sit, ignored on your doorstep. Highly recommended! Fair play to ya Peter for organising a cracking day out! Photo’s to follow.
[...] Diarmuid O’Cathsaigh gave us a really informative talk about Howth and Ireland’s Eye. Peter has put up a video of Diarmuid’s talk on his [...]
One thing I would say is other than a hidden path via the beech getting down to the church ruin is a nightmare of moss and brambles – be prerared that it takes a while to get through it.
Great video, pics & links, Peter! So sorry to have missed it – but I did hear there were spiders, so it was probably for the best…
[...] the pleasure of going to Ireland’s Eye, just of the coast of Howth. The trip was organised by Peter Donegan and a fantastic day was had by all. Many thanks to Peter for organising it and for giving me the [...]
@stephen,
diarmuid was an absolute legend. I believe he has some talks upcoming….. must get the details for them. Thanks for coming along mate. It was an honour.
@bngr
thats true it’s an overgrowth journey down to it…. but well worth it as can be seen from sarah and jenny’s photographs
@angela
these days are always made more memorable by the great people who go… this was definitely no exception. It was quieter without you 
you were missed
[...] our trip to Ireland’s Eye and Howth last weekend with Peter Donegan’s Garden Group, i was lucky enough to spot this little fellow in Howth Harbour with some other sealion’s on [...]
[...] the successful trip to the National War Memorial Gardens back in February, Peter Donegan’s garden group had a second outing last Sunday to Ireland’s Eye. The island is just a mile off the coast [...]
[...] Sunday I took a trip to Ireland’s Eye with Peter Donegan’s Garden Group. I wrote about the first outing to the War Memorial Gardens [...]
Hi Peter,
It was lovely to carry such a wonderful bunch of people out to the island. I am delighted that everyone had such a nice time.
I look forward to bringing ye out again for a return trip sometime in the near future.
Kindest regards,
Your Boatman,
Mark.
a chara mark,
thank you skipper.
we had a great time.
see you soon
peter
[...] recommend you read the garden group guide. The two previous trips were to Irelands Eye and the war memorial [...]
[...] 6. Irelands Eye [...]