A Hungry Heron...

...looking for its breakfast. Its attempts to catch a fish ended in dismal
failure and it stalked off in a huff.
Photo: Annie

Whither?

This long and winding road leads to sun dappled woods and hidden bays. An adventure every time.

Photo: ©Profoundly Superficial Photography

Tree of Life

A tree next to a holy well in Sligo.

Photo: Profoundly Superficial Photography

Palm Trees in Ireland?

No this is not Spain. It's County Sligo in August!

Photo: Profoundly Superficial

Lissadell House and Countess Markiewicz

Lissadell House in County Sligo was the childhood home of Countess Markiewicz, who became a Sinn Féin revolutionary nationalist and the first woman to be elected to the British House of Commons. Following her involvement in the 1916 Easter Uprising, she was sentenced to death but eventually served just one year in prison. Countess Markiewicz also fought actively for the Republican cause during the Irish Civil War and helped to defend Moran's Hotel in Dublin.

As the dramatist Séan O'Casey said of her: "One thing she had in abundance—-physical courage; with that she was clothed as with a garment".
Top photo: Annie

Drumcliffe

This magnificent swan graces the door of the church in Drumcliffe where the poet WB Yeats lies buried.

The rather Zen-like epitaph on his gravestone is taken from the last lines of "Under Ben Bulben", one of his final poems:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by

Photo: Annie

Votive Offerings

Objects tied to a tree at Tobernalt Holy Well in Carraroe in County Sligo. The Well was also worshipped in pre-Christian times.
Photo: Annie

Different Strokes for Different Folks

The Catholic and the Protestant churches to the right and left of the 19th century lunatic asylum in Sligo. Now a major hotel.
Photos: Annie

Yeats' Final Resting Places

The poet W.B. Yeats died at the Hôtel Idéal Séjour, in Menton, France on 28 January, 1939. He was buried at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in accordance with his apparent wish to be buried quickly in France with a minimum of fuss. Here, the plot thickens. It turned out that his actual words were 'If I die bury me up there [at Roquebrune] and then in a year's time when the newspapers have forgotten me, dig me up and plant me in Sligo". So eventually in September 1948, Yeats' body was shipped off to Drumcliffein, County Sligo. His epitaph is taken from the last lines of "Under Ben Bulben", one of his final poems:
Cast a cold Eye
On Life, on Death.
Horseman, pass by.
Photo: Annie

On the Road to Carrowkeel

A Happy Pirate Annie snapped by Pirate Bertje.

Tomb Raider?

Pirate Bertje inspecting Cairn G at Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery in County Sligo. She has now left for the relative modernity of Ancient Egypt, the Pyramids being some five to eight hundred years younger than the tombs at Carrowkeel.
Photo: Annie

Lunatic Asylum

This building in Sligo was once a 19th century lunatic asylum, complete with its own Protestant and Catholic chapels. Now it has been transformed into the rather plush Clarion Hotel. Its bars and restaurants are still the scene of periodic madness and excess.
Photo: Annie