There are some wonderful Ireland-focused blogs. Perhaps we need an official directory of high-standard personal blogs pertaining to the island. This one is a charm – rmchapple.blogspot.com by archaeologist Robert M Chapple, which contains a wide variety of engaging topics. I certainly will not be trying to compete with someone who keeps a catalogue of Radiocarbon Determinations and Dendrochronological Dates….
Ringneill is a promontory enclosed on three sides by Strangford Lough. There is a causeway to Reagh Island and to the early monastery of Nendrum on Mahee Island. The area around Ringneill Quay was once a busy place. Fishing boats on Strangford Lough anchored here, and a thousand years before we would have seen Vikings. Ringneill also hosted people in Mesolithic and Neolithic times.
I took a carefree August-time stroll down the La Croisette promenade of Cannes. These are two kilometres of pure laid-back stupor. A dense assortment of casinos, beach-side restaurants, yachts, every kind of chair, with a sumptuous array of plants and flowers. Cannes feels impermanent, as if it were built in 1920, and my first surprise is that of it’s heritage. It is much older than I had imagined. But if there is a self-consciousness in this city, it is one that mirrors the validation of tourists. This was a city built for visitors, and has evolved to meet their needs.
Storm Emma was a snow storm blizzard that hot Ireland in March of 2018, having arrived from the direction of the Bay of Biscay in France. It was the worst snow storm to hit Ireland since 2009, and brought the country to a slowdown for two working days. It is not often that Dublin experiences such level of snow. And here are some photos from the week when Emma dropped into town.