The Flickr Foatyisland Image Generatr

Golden rhododendron blooms in Fota Arboretum, on Fota Island in eastern County Cork (Munster Province, southwest Ireland), on a mostly cloudy afternoon in late May 2024. This variety was one of several rhododendron shrubs, of different shades, in this section.

Fota Arboretum and Gardens were initially developed by members of the Smith-Barry family during the 1840s to complement its Regency mansion. Taking advantage of the plant-hunting expeditions of the period, they collected species of trees and shrubs native to Asia and the Americas, many of which have survived in the arboretum and have grown into rare living monuments. A set of walled gardens and terraces also reflects Victorian and early 20th-century design and planting choices.

Today, the historic arboretum and gardens are open to the public, administered by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works in coordination with the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin. (Fota House itself is in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, a private nonprofit organization.)

The Irish name of the island is Fóite; an alternative spelling of the island’s name in English is Foaty.

(Information from the Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens website and from Wikipedia, both last consulted 2 June 2024, as well as Fota Plant Hunters’ Tree Trail (Dublin: Irish Heritage Trust, [undated, between 2007 and 2024]). Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference number 9371), also last consulted 2 June 2024.)

[Fota 26 rhododendron golden 2024-05-23 f; DSCF2654]

A Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) in Fota Arboretum, on Fota Island in eastern County Cork (Munster Province, southwest Ireland), on a mostly cloudy afternoon in late May 2024.

Fota Arboretum and Gardens were initially developed by members of the Smith-Barry family during the 1840s to complement its Regency mansion. Taking advantage of the plant-hunting expeditions of the period, they collected species of trees and shrubs native to Asia and the Americas, many of which have survived in the arboretum and have grown into rare living monuments. This Japanese cedar, for example, was planted in the arboretum during the 1880s. A set of walled gardens and terraces also reflects Victorian and early 20th-century design and planting choices.

Today, the historic arboretum and gardens are open to the public, administered by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works in coordination with the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin. (Fota House itself is in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, a private nonprofit organization.)

The Irish name of the island is Fóite; an alternative spelling of the island’s name in English is Foaty.

(Information from the Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens website and from Wikipedia, both last consulted 2 June 2024, as well as Fota Plant Hunters’ Tree Trail (Dublin: Irish Heritage Trust, [undated, between 2007 and 2024]). Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference number 9371), also last consulted 2 June 2024.)

[Fota 15 Japanese cedar 2024-05-23 s; 20240523_065912]

Robin in Fota Arboretum, on Fota Island in eastern County Cork (Munster Province, southwest Ireland), on a mostly cloudy afternoon in late May 2024.

This cheeky friend had approached me steadily, appearing to announce, “Will pose for treats” -- and now, as the angle of the head implied, “Well?” The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is quite common in Ireland.

Fota Arboretum and Gardens were initially developed by members of the Smith-Barry family during the 1840s to complement its Regency mansion. Taking advantage of the plant-hunting expeditions of the period, they collected species of trees and shrubs native to Asia and the Americas, many of which have survived in the arboretum and have grown into rare living monuments. A set of walled gardens and terraces also reflects Victorian and early 20th-century design and planting choices.

Today, the historic arboretum and gardens are open to the public, administered by the Irish government’s Office of Public Works in coordination with the National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Dublin. (Fota House itself is in the care of the Irish Heritage Trust, a private nonprofit organization.)

The Irish name of the island is Fóite; an alternative spelling of the island’s name in English is Foaty.

(Information from the Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens website and from Wikipedia, both last consulted 2 June 2024, as well as Fota Plant Hunters’ Tree Trail (Dublin: Irish Heritage Trust, [undated, between 2007 and 2024]). Place names in English and Irish from logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland (reference number 9371), also last consulted 2 June 2024.)

[Fota 14 robin quizzical 2024-05-23 s; 20240523_065544]

For our Cork supporters today we have an old and very clear shot of the castle at the bridge from Fota.

This shot generated a number of good stories today - leaving us with a tough job to select the most interesting ones. With thanks to all of today's contributors, without your help and support we would be at nothing: sharon.corbet, Niall McAuley, beachcomberaustralia, Carol Maddock + guliolopez.

Ultimately perhaps Carol's "Blarney Castle" story wins by a whisker :) Even though Carol's find refers to events during WWI, Beachcomber references a similar story from 1904 - you would have to be up early in the morning to best the jarvies!

Found this headed A Counterfeit Castle in Quidnunc’s An Irishman’s Diary...

During the war [WWI] Queenstown, with its magnificent harbour, was the naval base for the American Fleet “operating in European waters”. Consequently, the town was constantly crowded with sailors on “shore leave”. Cork City was out of bounds, and the people of Queenstown were hard put to it to provide entertainment for these warriors of the sea. Now Blarney Castle proper stands about 21 miles from Queenstown, too long a journey for a horse to do in an afternoon, so the enterprising jarveys of the district evolved a scheme which brought much diversion to the Yankees and a golden harvest to themselves. Fortunately for that scheme, the American sailor is not of so inquiring a mind as his countrymen of the tourist class. About two miles from Queenstown there stands an old ruin, Belvelly Castle. Structurally, it is somewhat similar to Blarney Castle, sufficiently so, at any rate, to deceive the sailor from overseas. And here he was brought in dozens to see the Castle and kiss the Stone! I once inquired from a jarvey which stone they represented to be the famous one. “Yerra, anyone at all, sir, as long as ’twas a bit hard to git at”, he replied. “Most of them stones round the top have had their share. Shure, there’s bits of chewing-gum stuck all over them”. Thus was this complete, but harmless, deception successfully carried out.

Irish Times, 27 November 1928


Photographer: Robert French

Collection: The Lawrence Photograph Collection

Date:between ca. 1865-1914

NLI Ref: L_ROY_0269

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

Shorebirds of Ireland with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com

The Rook (Corvus frugilegus) is a member of the Corvidae family in the passerine order of birds. Named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species name frugilegus is Latin for "food-gathering".

Rooks are distinguished from similar members of the crow family by the bare grey-white skin around the base of the adult's bill in front of the eyes. The feathering around the legs also look shaggier and laxer than the congeneric Carrion Crow. The juvenile is superficially more similar to the Crow because it lacks the bare patch at the base of the bill, but it loses the facial feathers after about six months. Collective nouns for rooks include building, parliament, clamour and storytelling. Nesting is always colonial (rookeries), usually in the very tops of the trees. Branches and twigs are broken off trees (very rarely picked up off the ground), though as many are likely to be stolen from nearby nests as are collected from trees.

Though resident in Great Britain, Ireland and much of north and central Europe, vagrant to Iceland and northern Scandinavia, it also occurs as an eastern race in Asia where it differs in being very slightly smaller on average, and having a somewhat more fully feathered face.

In captivity, when confronted with problems, rooks have recently been documented as one of multiple species of bird capable of tool use to obtain a goal. (wikipedia)

This particular individual is suffering from a beak deformity. Such deformities are generally caused by dietary deficiences, liver damage or environmental toxins. However, the bird looks in very good health otherwise. An alarming incidence of beak deformities occurring in the Chickadee population of Alasaka at the moment is causing environmentalists great concern.