Category Archives: Beautiful Ulster

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Armagh, Co. Down, Ireland, Uncategorized

Donaghcloney

DONAGHCLONEY

Donaghcloney, or Donacloney is a village in Co.Down, – or Co. Armagh (depending on who you ask!). I should know, for I used to live there – back in 1986, for around six months.  Situated between Banbridge and Lurgan, and along the bank of the Lagan River, the village was built around the Irish Linen industry.  The old linen mill was still working when I lived there, but it’s closed now, and its site is being redeveloped for housing.

In Donacloney to visit a home there, I took a few minutes to make some photographs.

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Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim, Ireland, Landscapes, Uncategorized

Slemish Mountain

Slemish Mountain is in Co.Antrim, to the east of the town of Ballymena.  Traditionally, it is said to be the first Irish home of St Patrick, who tended sheep as a slave boy on its slopes.Slemish (Slieve Mish)  is around 1500 feet above the surrounding plain, and is visible for many miles around.

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Fuji X-T2 f=25mm, f/16 @ 1/60th sec on ISO400

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Beautiful Ulster, Co. Armagh, Uncategorized

Lough Neagh

I lead a VERY exciting life.  After a wet morning in the open air, doing some commercial photography, I got to stop for packed lunch at a favourite car-park!  Oxford Island, just outside Lurgan, Co.Armagh is a nature reserve, perched on the southern shores of Lough Neagh, the largest fresh-water lake in the British Isles.  My plan was to have lunch, then go for a stroll with a camera, but that came to nothing, for as soon as I’d finished eating the heavens opened and the rain poured down.  Again. Continue reading Lough Neagh →

Beautiful Ulster, Co. Antrim, Ireland

Portbradden and Dunseverick

Harbours!

The north coast of Ireland has a winding coastline with lots of quaint little harbours, many of which are picturesque and great for photography.  On a recent visit to Portballentrae, I travelled along the coast to visit two of those harbours.

DUNSEVERICK.

Dunseverick is a Hamlet, just along the coast from the world famous tourist attraction that is the Giant’s Causeway.  It’s little harbour lies down a long, narrow winding lane. Be careful – its just about wide enough for two vehicles to pass!

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Beautiful Ulster, Belfast, Black & White, Shioyard

Victoria Park, Belfast

The best way to burn off one or two of those Christmas Day calories is by taking a good walk on Boxing Day, and on this Boxing Day, 2018, the sun was shining in Belfast, and I was visiting a family in Sydenham, and where better for a walk after my visit than Victoria Park, one of Belfast’s legendary green spaces in the industrial landscape.

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Beautiful Ulster, Black & White, Co. Antrim

Portballintrae

Last week we visited Portballintrae, a village right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and close to the world-famous Giant’s Causeway, and the even more famous Bushmills Distillery.

This image was added on 1 November 2018:

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Portballintrae is very much a ‘dormitory’ village, now built up with modern apartments used a holiday home by people from elsewhere, which gives the visitor the impression that it is a soulless, sad place.  There is a small harbour, and a boat-club with a small clubhouse, and a decent beach, topped by an archeological treasure, the Lissnahall Prehistoric Earthworks.  A short drive leads to Bushmills, and I was intrigued by the bunting in the town square. Continue reading Portballintrae →