Ireland

Padlocks of Love

The locks on Ha'penny bridge. #Dublin #dublinireland #locks

Over the weekend, I went to Dublin for a Massage.  Over much of Europe, a tradition of sweethearts has taken hold since the early 2000’s, where the sweethearts affix padlocks to bridges.  Here in Dublin, being just 10 days after Valentine’s Day, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were plenty of Padlocks of Love with messages in “sharpie” markers written on them attached to the historic Ha’Penny bridge.

The locks on ha'penny bridge 3. #bridge #dublin #dublinireland

The locks on ha'penny bridge 2. #Dublin #dublinireland #lock #love #bridge

The locks on ha'penny bridge 4. #dublin #dublinireland #locks #love #bridge

While skies were overcast (and we had many a snow flurry), I thought it added to the lovely idea of two loves locked together despite the bad weather and the turbulent waters rushing in the River Liffey below.

The locks on Ha'penny bridge 6 with the River Liffey in the background. #dublin #dublinireland #lock #locks #wishes #love

The thing is that it’s quite controversial – and they’re not sure to remain. The city council has ordered that the locks be removed – because they are potentially damaging to the bridge.
City Council cuts locks off bridge

I suspect, however, that even if cut off, the sweethearts will return to continue the tradition – in the name of Love.

The locks on Ha'penny bridge 5. #dublin #dublinireland #locks #wishes #bridge

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Skerries Mills

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30 KM north of Dublin, along the M1 into county Fingal, and out toward the coast is a small town of Skerries. Skerries isn’t a particularly big town, nor is there anything particularly different about it in the town center. There are pubs, shops, and the typical Irish curving town main street. What is interesting about it is that not far from the main street of town are two gorgeous “Holland style” windmills which are located, along with the mill pond, in the town’s main park.

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Opened year round and restored by the Fingal County Council, the mills are pretty spectacular on a sunny day and allow for views of the coast and off shore islands. There’s tours 7 days a week, a handful of crafts at the visitor’s shop, and they often have the two windmills (and the watermill – there’s been a watermill on the location since the days of Henry VIII) working during tours. There is a nice little cafe, plenty of ducks to feed if you choose to take a stroll around the mill pond, and a farmer’s market on Saturdays featuring organic foods.

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If you’d like more information on Skerries Mills, you can see their website at: http://www.skerriesmills.org/

If you’d like to read more about the nearby New Bridge House and gardens, please click here.

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Mullingar Fog

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I’m finally getting through some older pictures from here in Ireland, after having had a very very busy time at work and in my private life for the last 3 months. Things haven’t slowed down much – but I am finally finding a few hours to actually try to work on pictures and get back to blogging.

The first photographs to grace us are a few that were taken the morning of Jacqui and Zac’s wedding back in October in Mullingar, Ireland. We had hoped that it would be a good sunny day for an indoor /outdoor wedding. Mother Nature, however, had other plans – trading the brief bouts of sunshine and showers from the drive over for a deep white fog against the autumn color. It made for a magical morning – like something out of a storybook. It was something that I could not resist – and I had to bring the camera as I was on my way down to breakfast at Annebrook house. From my balcony, I caught photographs of the soft fog making the Gazebo seem like something out of a Grimm’s fairy tale (above) and the pond and park feel eerily as if it came out of a detective novel when the occasional stranger strolled past the and hidden sulfur lamps (below).

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Then there were the dewdrops that made the previously invisible spider’s handicrafts appear visible to the naked eye while hiding the most delicate of church spires made of dark grey stone.

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By noon, the wispy veil of morning fog had burned off – to be replaced by another type of veil – and the busy day of portraits and memories had begun.

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