'How now brown cow' goes the old saying which is often used in elocution, it's also a phrase often asked of us who come from Northern Ireland.

Most from the other corners of Ireland find how northeners pronounce the 'ow' sound to be funny.

Of course, there are many different Northern Irish accents but this one remains a favourite.

A fine summer scene from Ireland here with three red-brown cows relaxing outside an old friary, seen here through a triple-ogee window of the medieval ruins.

More on the way, keep an eye out here on panoramicireland.com for more from Ireland.

Rural lanes in Ireland or Green Roads are remnants of old, sometimes ancient, paths through the countryside. Here on a fine winter's day I headed into the green and colourful landscape to view the mountains under the blue sky.

Ireland has had some cold nights recently in January 2021, winter is well and truly here but for now milder conditions have returned and little remains of the snow even at higher altitudes.

I have written about green roads before, here.

The low, setting sun slips below the ridge and at this time only illuminates the higher slopes of the mountains ahead.

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The first week of 2021 in Ireland has seen the return of cold, clear and typical winter weather.

A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is taking place that could see the return of the cold conditions that brought the Beast from the East in 2018 and the cold winter of 2010 and 2011.

Here, one of the first sunsets of 2021 from the Irish countryside. A green field, frost and distant mountains under a blue winter sky.

More snow has arrived since, although not much; however, winter 2021 has some way to go yet, it is not over and we should expect more cold, ice and, likely, snow.

Happy New Year from Ireland.

The shortest day of the year has arrived in Ireland and the winter solstice occurred at just after 10:00 today, December 21st.

From here, the winter keeps on for many weeks until the first day of spring but along the way, every day the day length increases by just a little.

Here, in the west of Ireland blue hour ushers in the night; the last remnants of daylight fades lower in the sky as cloud builds to obscure the last warming glow from the western sky.

There was no chance to see the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter tonight as cloud interrupted the view.

Join me to photograph at sunset in the west of Ireland in 2021.