Nestled on the banks of the River Suir bordering Tipperary and Waterford lies a small graveyard, old and overgrown like so many in Ireland.

I visited this quiet and peaceful place in Spring 2020 just a few weeks before the lockdown.

Here at Churchtown the Sun was shining, the birds tweeting and spring flowers were growing.

The grave of Tipperary man, world record holding athlete and founder of Ireland's Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Davin, is hard to miss with prominence over the River Suir.

By now you'll probably be quite aware that I have written about sheep before, here is another sheep-filled scene from the sunny Irish countryside in spring.

It seems that during the whole lockdown due to coronavirus / COVID-19 that everything has stopped but life does go own, nature has its own rhythms and the seasons change just like they do every year - although in recent weeks we have seen a very warm spring.

That warm spring means long, sunny, warm days; maybe not conducive to working on images indoors but photographing and capturing wildlife is.

Here is a video of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in Ireland in March 2020.

{ }

Today, 17th March, is the feast day of Ireland's patron saint (one of three actually) Saint Patrick and it has been marked with a doodle on Google's search pages of Ireland's Cliffs of Moher.

I know that the Cliffs of Moher are one of the most famous and iconic places in Ireland but I do find it interesting that Saint Patrick never visited the cliffs, nor did he actually visit County Clare.

According to local tradition in County Clare, Saint Patrick blessed the county from across the River Shannon before heading to the north of Ireland.

It's just an observation and I have added my own sunset image from the Cliffs of Moher above.

On the 7th of March 1848, Ireland's now well-known tricolour flag of green, white and orange was flown for the first time.

It was created by Thomas Francis Meagher, a skilled orator and statesman who later went on to become the first acting governor of Montana.

Often represented as green, white and gold the Irish flag is in fact green, white and orange - in Meagher's own words: "The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the 'Orange' and the 'Green', and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood." 

Today, the 1st of March marks the start of meteorological spring here in Ireland, it is also Saint David's Day - the patron saint of Wales.

Spring in traditional Irish culture starts on the 1st of February which is Saint Brigid's Day but for weather scientists March, April and May are the spring months.