Tag: Recreation

Irelands Eye

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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Loughshinny Beach

Before you even dream of saying it….. I will 😉

What on Gods earth am I doing reviewing a beach…?

Well, it turns out one of North Dublins hidden gems may not be the worst day trip you ever took. And in this case it turns out there is a lot more than sand to see here.

This place is literally brimmed with history and nature.

For those not into the ye olde botanics of the great outdoors…. this is exactly what you are looking for. The beach may well be the meeting point [so to speak] but there is so much more than that here.

I went down on Valentines day, a change of plan from what I had intended, but… it was just relaxation heaven. The tide was out. Some of the boats were in. The fishermen where loading up the days catch. I walked the harbour wall and looked over towards Lambay Island. I walked on towards the Martello tower and did what is known as the Millennium Walk. I brought the dogs. It was cold. I wrapped up warm. And as the wind blew [right] through my hair…. the horses wandered the beach front. You simply cannot find serenity and such amazing views like it. Add to that the fact that the beach and surrounding areas were absolutely spotless.

Shame that Fingal County Council have such limited information on their website about the history of Loughshinny. Maybe someone else maybe able to shed some extra light on this [?]. For the moment, go forth and so enjoy…. simply amazing.

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View more images of Loughshinny Beach

Tags Day-tripper, dublin, lambay island, loughshinny, loughshinny beach, Martello Tower, People, Business, places, rating=4, Recreation, review, travel, Travel and Tourism, Travelogues, visit, walks

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Vodafone Cheer Up Ireland….

Post author By Peter Donegan
Post date January 10, 2010
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I wrote about it over on Ballyboughal.net [thats my home town] but whilst I was out on a photowalk around Dublin City, on a Sunday afternoon, the landscape looked so pretty. Pretty amazing to be quite honest. [I’ve put some more pics of the day over on Pix.ie]

For those not from Dublin or Ireland and don’t know, the above is a seating area beside a bus stop, right beside the quays 😉 Pretty amazing ? It makes me smile and I must add looks so perfect surrounded by snow….

By the way if you are wondering why this is on my landscaping greeny blog…. well first today was very much about the great outdoors. And it was just that…. great and outdoors. Second…. anything that is to do with people being happy deserves a standing ovation 😉 see below….

The photowalk as a by the way was with thanks to Vodafone and their photo competition Cheer Up Ireland where you upload pictures of what makes you happy/cheers you up. The prize for the overall competition is a €3,000 shopping spree at Dundrum shopping centre.

A big note of thanks to the lads at Simply Zesty for a great day. Great to see people smiling…. Thanks Dena…..

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national trails day sunday october 4th ’09

Post author By Peter Donegan
Post date September 27, 2009
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ballyboughal image courtesy of phil-o-kane photography — ....

Sunday October 4th sees the national trails day arrive.

I love the great outdoors. I love it when I am warm…. and outdoors. This day is all about getting wrapped up and getting out and about. There’s the usual reaons as to why being active is good for you but its is also very much from by point of view about nature and actually seeing, feeling and touching it.

If you are interested… here’s what discover Ireland have to say

It’s autumn. The days are fresh. The colours of the countryside are just spectacular. You should get out there! Why not visit our Discover Ireland website and choose from over 100 scenic looped walks, great forest trails or more challenging mountain trails. There are walks to suit all levels of ability and experience from the relatively easy 2-hour stroll to more challenging 5-hour trails.

I did my own version of this last January around Limerick and Cork and I loved every second of it. There’s also more information at the National Trails Day website.