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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]

Life at the moment, it will not always be this way...I hope! :-)

stagecoach 37432 at northampton

Winter Lights at the Decorative Arts & History Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin

Chichester West Sussex.
November 7th 2023
© Copyright PD3

This side of the cloister, on the way out of Jerpoint Abbey, looks like someone took a wrecking ball to the arched wall and knocking the arches out like ten pins! I loved how the green of the grass popped in the fog and the darkness of the stone.

A view of one of the stone sculpture on the wall around the cloister at Jerpoint Abbey. This one depicts St. Christopher. Other sculptures in the abbey includes crusader knights and other saints and biblical scenes.

There’s access steps to the first floor of the abbey - or what used to be the first floor. From here you get a great view of the layout of the place. You also disturb the rooks and crows whose caw-caws is all you can hear.

In this part of Jerpoint Abbey, the old altar would have stood. Here the roof or ceilings are stone vaulted with carvings. This is also the area where some of the monks and priests were buried. There are tombs and gravestones in this part. This was probably the spookiest area of all. Did I pick up a spirit in the top right corner of the photo or just a trick of the light?

Inside the cloister at Jerpoint Abbey you can see the scale of ruin of the place. But also with a squint of an eye and a little imagination you can also see how magnificent it was in its day. And even hear the faint sounds of monks going about their day.

Jerpoint Abbey on a November morning. The internals of this medieval Abbey are very impressive - the entrance way opens up into the cloister area. If you zoom in on the small archways around the cloister you can make out some of the stone sculpture work.

Leaving Mount Juliet and heading deeper into Kilkenny we came across Jerpoint Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian Abbey. It was a quiet Tuesday morning so the place was empty. I went in on my own to take some photos and it was eeriest feeling ever!

No visit to a tourist attraction is complete without a visit to the cafe or gift shop. The cafe at Kilkenny Castle is based in the old kitchen in the downstairs section of the castle. It has the old range and pipe work as well as the pots and pans on the wall.

At Kilkenny Castle I was playing with the shadows along one of the corridor walls. One of the many ghostly characters that haunt the place

This feature window at Kilkenny Castle seemed like an original feature that was getting covered up from the outside by shutters. Maybe you could fire arrows out from inside?

This view of Kilkenny Castle courtyard from inside the castle was inspired by my wife who spotted the great blurred effect the old windows had on view out. Another one I couldn’t resist to capture.

This blue corridor at Kilkenny Castle really stood out as the rest of the place seemed to be red and gold. It is a stunning blue and this corridor leads to some of the bedrooms.

The view out onto the parkland part of the Kilkenny Castle Estate from inside the castle. The picture gallery is in the building / wing to the left.

I saw these windows in Kilkenny Castle and felt compelled to capture the light that came through them. Shame about the window blinds!