It is long accepted in Dublin that Bull Island did not exist until the building of the North Bull Wall – which was built in an effort to reduce the silt ending up in Dublin Port and as a result this silt was diverted elsewhere to North Bull. In 1871 the island was estimated at around 2km long, and now in 2020 it is about 5km long and 1km wide.
Growing up in the countryside, it was almost a right of passage to be able to take a sting from a nettle and not complain. They were your enemy and your flailing cattle stick was useful to slice them down.
Do you know where you are going? Yes, sometimes it can be hard. Not just in life but also on the ground. Some people would tell you to stay calm, take a breath, and trust your judgement. Well it turns out trusting your judgement might be a good thing.
The North Wall Quay light house was sort of built in and around 1820. Except that the location where it sits did not exist. We are not even certain when the existing version of the lighthouse was built. Was it really in 1904? This article is also a minor celebration of the work of the great lighthouse hero Peter Goulding
For many years I have walked over a bridge, without knowing I was on a bridge. The small red brick Donnycarney Bridge, which was built in 1896 and stands just beyond the Collins Avenue and Malahide Road junction, replaced an ancient stone structure called Scurlogue’s Bridge.
Carrowmore is found in a unique piece of geography, the Cuil Irra (Coolrea) peninsula, a triangle of land bounded by water on three sides. Ballisodare Bay lies to the south, the Atlantic ocean to the west and Sligo Bay to the north. Lough Gill is to the east beyond Carns Hill, connected to the sea by the Shelly river which is only 5 km long, flowing from Lough Gill through Sligo Town and into the sea. Keep Reading
Luke Kelly Bridge (formerly Ballybough Bridge) may have been the site of the Battle of Clontarf.
When I think of Gallipoli, I think of Australia and New Zealand. Or at least that was the case until I visited the peninsula in 2019. Many more British and Irish soldiers died in Gallipoli than those from Australia or New Zealand. This was not a war fought in the defense of Australia or New Zealand. The Anzac did not bravely defend their own lands, but instead attacked those lands rightly belonging to Turkey.
Bryn Celli Ddu is one of the finest passage tombs in Wales. Indeed it is both a passage and burial chamber, buried under a mound. It is only a boat and bike trip from Dublin, and this makes me wonder about the people who built it.
Derry City has an historical legacy which is at the forefront of its tourism and also its image. These two elements crystallise around the Siege of Derry in 1689 and also the Civil Right’s movement of the 1960’s and the violence which came after. Memorials are not so good at keeping a low profile at a time of high emotions. But some memorials are more embraced than others.