Irish Bogs

Irish bogs are interesting places, sometimes thought of as barren wasteground and fit only for cutting for fuel or conversion to forest, they cover approximately 12,000km² of the country.

Two types of bog are found in Ireland, blanket bog and raised bog.

For many people Ireland is synonymous with sheep and lamb.

Travelling through the Garden County it is easy to see why, with sheep and lambs in spring on verdant fields or by roadsides grazing on heather.

Wicklow sheep were common throughout Ireland before the Famine and produced wool very suitable for flannel (as well as mutton for stews).

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

I'm not sure if any trip to Dublin would be complete without a visit to Saint Patrick's.

Connemara

Researching locations for a photography workshop can be very rewarding, especially if the location is in the west of Ireland. Here in Connemara there is notonly a land of bog, mountain and sky but also a land of machair, ponies, and the sea, or, in this case, the Atlantic Ocean.

Connemara or Conamara

The western part of County Galway, situated west of Lough Corrib, is known as Connemara.

It's a land of bog, mountains, sea and sky. This image is taken from a single track bog road on the way to the edge of Ireland, the edge of Europe on the Atlantic Coast.

As I made my way across the bog towards the small lake pictured in this image, I was shadowed by the vertical flight of the skylark hovering in the clouds above me, warbling its distinctive call.

I'm not boasting but Ireland is surely one of the best countries to live in. It's scenic, there is no doubt, it's compact and easy to get around.

There is nowhere better to be at sunset than the west of Ireland, the mountains and valleys soak up the low rays of sunshine coming from the Atlantic.  

Ballymoe is a typical rural Irish village, a sleepy backwater, lying in the east of County Galway in the province of Connacht. It has developed around the traditional crossing point over the River Suck that forms the boundary of counties Galway and Roscommon.

Surrounded by bogland in the midlands of Ireland, it has a typical mixture of colourful houses, pubs, shops and a Catholic church on its long main street.

Providing services to local residents and as a through road for travellers heading between Roscommon and Galway, Ballymoe certainly doesn't see much action, you know, it's the kind of place that has a few tractors parked outside the butcher's shop or Post Office.

On a recent evening spent photographing in 'the West', that's the west of Ireland, Connemara to be exact, after sunset I was looking for something extra to capture. A small babbling brook, or something other than the scenic landscapes that had made up the bulk of my subject matter hither to.

I happened upon a small harbour on the edge of a lake, with a boat moored and some great reflections but I thought this location would be best photographed in the morning and it was now 22:00 in late June, bright but with no direct sunlight.

Vouchers for Photo Tours in Dublin & Ireland

We often get asked if we can provide vouchers for photography tours and experiences, and the answer is always yes. To buy a voucher please send us an email enquiry through the website at the contact page. Currently it is possible to buy specific dates for Dublin Photo Tours through the secure booking system that accepts PayPal by the way! 

Spending time at Glendalough, particularly on summer weekends, moments of peacefulness can be few and far between as Wicklow's most popular location gets more than 1 million visitors every year.