St Patrick's Day Parade in Dundalk

I've been so busy of late that I  haven't had any time for blogging but I did want to share some pictures from the St Patrick's Day parade in Dundalk before it's ancient history.

There were marching pipe bands...

and men in kilts

and girls in glasses

Little folk….

and little fiddlers.

Irish dancers 

And Samba dancers

Dog walkers and

Martial artists

Tiny cyclists looking forward to the Giro D'Italia

and rugby players celebrating our Five Nations win.

There were Irish cailins 

And our new townsfolk who brought their colourful costumes on a dull day

There were fast cars

And slow cars.

Old fire engines 

And no Irish parade would be complete without some vintage tractors.

February Scavenger Hunt

Joining in with Suzzie for the Scavenger Hunt once again. As the weather was quite foul with lots of storms in the early part of the month, I found it harder than expected to come up with images for all the clues.

F is for  Fishing Boats

Fishing boats tied up in Dundalk Harbour

3pm

Finished work early so time to get a photo of the tower of Dundalk's St Nicholas Parish Church, popularly known as the Green Church because of its copper spire. It's the oldest building still in use in our town.

Grain

 We buy logs from a local forester for burning during the winter months.


Lamp

A dusting of snow on this street lamp on our one hour of snow this  year!

Clock

Clock tower in Drogheda

Honey

I like to put a little honey on my porridge for breakfast in the winter.

Fountain

This is the fountain in Dundalk's Market Square. It's very popular with children and usually gushes  up much higher than this but it was on a  subdued cycle when I stopped to snap it on my way home after working late. I intended going back in the hope of getting a more impressive shot but it has been closed off due to roadworks ever since!

Round

Ireland is famous for its round towers which were used by monks as a place of refuge during Viking invasions. This one at Dromiskin, Co Louth, dates back to the 12th century. It would originally have stood higher but the top was altered at some stage leaving it with a squat appearance.

Shadow

We had so much dull weather at the beginning of the month that it took me longer than I expected to get this shot of shadows on the wall of the old St Joseph's orphanage at Seatown Place, Dundalk.

Group

A group of birds including swans, mallard ducks, moorhens and gulls in Ice House Hill, Dundalk after a brief snow shower.

Repurpose

Beer barrels which were cut in half find a new use as planters outside a pub in Dundalk

Clouds

It's great that the evenings are getting brighter so I can get out to take photographs and walk the dog, and enjoy sunsets like this, after work.

What's Rare Is Wonderful

There's a saying is Irish 'An rud is annamh is iontach' which mean's what's rare is wonderful.
That is certainly the case with snow.
We don't get much snow. Some winters can pass with scarcely a snow shower and we're still talking about the winter of 2010 when it snowed for most of December and the country almost ground to a halt - and I'm not just speaking figuratively as local authorities ran out of salt to grit the roads.
Anyway, the long and short of it is, snow is regarded as pretty special. Certainly by children and by adults like myself who see photo opportunities in every snowfall.
I couldn't believe my luck when it started to snow this afternoon as I had finished work early. That meant I had time to visit the pretty Ice House Hill Park to get some photos before picking my son up from collage.

Naturally enough, I wasn't the only one taking photographs.

Remembering That Summer of 2013

The long warm carefree days of summer are fading into memory, into folk memory, as this will be remembered in Ireland as 'The Summer of 2013', the summer  of the first heatwave of the 21st century.

And, before I pull out the hats and scarves, woolen jumpers and warm boots, and embrace autumn, I want to share some memories of summer in these parts.

It was a fantastic summer for the outdoors. For once, anyone planning an event, from a family barbecue to a community festival, could do so safe in the knowledge that the weather would be good and it wouldn't rain.

Louth County Agricultural Show had a new venue  in the beautiful setting of Bellurgan Park. It was very well attended with lots to see,  including brass bands, cattle, sheep, alpacas, horses, dogs, ducks, hens and even a pet sheep on a lead.

There were lots of other festivals as the summer progressed, although the weather was so good that I missed some as I preferred to stay at home in our newly restored garden (and that's a story for another post)

The great Celtic legend of An Tain Bo Chuilgne or the Cattle Raid of Cooley was enacted in a colourful pageant at Dundalk's Market Square as part of the Tain Walk which  traced the march of Queen Meabh's Army.