Golden Hour Dawn Swim in March at the Forty Foot, Dublin, Ireland

Early morning is a time to experience the true beauty of the world, daylight builds before sunrise to bathe landscapes in golden hour colour.

I've written about this location before, it's the Forty Foot in Dublin and doesn't need a lot of introduction if you've been a regular visitor to the site. 

There is a special serenity to the morning, an ephemeral liminality as the short-lived golden light moves into bright daylight.

And at this time of year, it's getting bright around 06:00, with sunrise under an hour later.

Join Panoramic Ireland to photograph in Ireland throughout the year, especially at sunrise.

Antrim rockers Therapy? sold out Dublin's iconic Olympia Theatre on Dame Street on Halloween night, while thousands gathered for the ghost parade on O'Connell Street.

Playing their iconic Troublegum album in full the band brought their usual energy to the scenic, and famous, interior of the Olympia to start their European tour on the 30th anniversary of its release.

This was my third time photographing Therapy?, both previous occasions in Belfast, this the first time in Dublin.

The gable end of 12 Montague Street, Dublin as it faces onto Montague Lane is temporarily home to an artwork by Joe Caslin which aims to highlight the work of charity Samaritans.

The street artist, who is also a teacher, uses pencil drawings to highlight societal issues in contemporary Ireland, has unveiled his latest artwork in Dublin to bring attention to Dubliners of the work carried out by Samaritans.

Utilising the concept of the 15th century Japanese technique of Kintsugi in which broken pottery is repaired using powdered gold, Caslin's artwork of a male figure with the Kintsugi gold holding his face together suggests the idea that people may appear whole now but might have been broken before.

Samaritans do amazing work for those who need help, operating a 24 hour helpline for free via this number: 116 123 from anywhere in Ireland - from Antrim to Wexford and it's free to call.

Dublin is a good place for street photography, full of character in its people and its buildings. Often in the streetscape itself although some difficulty exists throughout much of the city centre with visual intrusions.

This scene is a good example, a classic image of a cobbled street filled with old buildings and the famous Guinness gatebeing passed by two locals wearing dark clothes who themselves look a little like a pint of Guinness on legs.

Join me, Panoramic Ireland, to photograph street photography, landscapes, seascapes and more in Dublin and throughout Ireland.

On Monday 25th of November join me for a special price of only €135 for an afternoon of street photography in Dublin, usual price €215.

Calling all artists! Dublin Canvas is now open for submissions for 2024. 

This inclusive public art project started in 2015 with aims to make Dublin pretty by painting utility boxes all over the county, from Balbriggan to Killiney.

There are 68 boxes in Dublin City, 23 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and 13 in Fingal. For 2024 no boxes in South Dublin are in the artist call.

Dublin Canvas will supply materials such as paints, brushes and €250 to cover travel expenses and food etc. for the day, or they will pay €300 if you supply your own materials.

The call for artists is now live, and closes on Friday 3rd of May 2024. 

More information can be found at: https://www.dublincanvas.com/paint

Chris Shiflett brought his solo tour opener to Ireland last night, March 20th 2024 in the Green Room at The Academy on Abbey Street in Dublin.

Rumour has it the Foo Fighters guitarist was staying in Room 102 at one of Dublin's many fine hotels.

More dates include March 21st in Belfast then Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London.

News updates on his website here.

Metal music legends Judas Priest brought the Invincible Shield to Dublin, Ireland a few days before Saint Patrick's Day.

I was there to photograph Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and the band, indeed you can see some of my images on their Facebook and Instagram.

The rest below in the gallery.

No need for a Panic Attack, if you can get to some select European and US cities in 2024 then you'll know that You've Got Another Thing Coming.

Enjoy the sound of fifty years of metal!

The floorboards creak and squeak underfoot and the room echoes to conversations about David Bowie and the images presented on the panels in an upstairs floor of Dublin's Rathfarnham Castle.

This is A Portrait in Flesh, a photographic exhibition by David Bowie's favourite photographer, Denis O'Regan. 

Denis photographed Bowie at more than 200 concerts but also captured many candid scenes on travels with the music legend.

After an extensive look at the various concert scenes and the behind the scenes in black and white and colour, I chat for a time with Denis.

He tells story after story and we chat about various topics photographic from camera bags to digital vs. film photography as well as anecdotes from his time touring with and photographing numerous rock bands including Thin Lizzy and Duran Duran.

A favourite of mine comes from Bangkok 1983 and it features Bowie brandishing a guitar, wearing a cyan blue suit, his left leg aloft and the top of the guitar out of frame. There's a whole load of empty space but his raised left foot and sock matches his guitar and right shirt cuff. We see enough of his face to know it's Bowie, an image full of energy.

But there's something special about the images of Bowie relaxing in boats, walking through a flooded Bangkok showcasing O'Regan's travel documentary style and the Bowie's innate ease in front of the camera.

The exhibition ends on the 11th of February so get a move on to see it or else why not pop into O'Regan's gallery in London at 271 King Street, W6 9QF where his images of many of the 20th century's (and 21st's) greatest musicians are on display from Phil Lynott, Bob Marley, Mick Jagger, The Who, Marillion etc. to Amy Winehouse and Beyoncé.

Dublin's Portobello is a large block of the south inner city stretching from the Grand Canal in the south to Kevin Street at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in the north and from Clanbrassil Street in the west to the eastern boundary at Wexford/Camden/Richmond Streets.

Comprising the leafy canal, leafy parks and leafy avenues this is one of Dublin's most desirable neighbourhoods.

Portobello lies within easy walking distance of the city centre, the Luas runs close by at Charlemont and buses head in and out along the south circular road.

Griffith College sits close by and anyone familar with the area will know of the area's regeneration over recent years.

Parts of Portobello have seen new developments, particularly in the east close to Richmond Street.

Portobello is definitely a sought after place to live.

Here's a fine property that I recently had the privilege of viewing, up for sale currently - but I'm sure not for long.

The beautifully proportioned front room is a perfect cube, looking out onto a quiet residential street with plenty of parking for residents.

This three bedroom, three bath villa-style house is on the market for €775,000 with Owen Reilly, find out more here: https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/25-ovoca-road-portobello-dublin/4735851

Located just steps away from renowned eatery Bibi's, 25 Ovoca Road is a perfect location for those who want to be close to the action but live in a quiet, residential area.

Dublin’s once famous Ormond Hotel featured in the Sirens episode of James Joyce’s famous Ulysses.

Much changed during the 20th century after visits by James Joyce and his famous fictional character Leopold Bloom, the hotel became derelict in the early 21st century, over 100 years after Bloom made his journey across Dublin on 16th June 1904.

The hotel was built in the 1840s and became well-known, enough for Joyce to base part of Ulysses here. But the intervening years have not been kind or sympathetic to either the original layout or the hotel as it was when Joyce visited after it had been enlarged in 1910. Ulysses was published in 1920 although it was set in 1904.

There has, nevertheless, been a campaign to retain the buildings as they are and indeed one of the planning conditions are that the building, after construction must operate as a hotel and retain the name Ormond Hotel.

Numbers 7 to 11 are due to be removed but no. 7 on the right still remains, bedecked in ‘Do Not Remove’ graffiti, which is also referenced in this large piece of street art.

To the right, in this image you can see Number 6 which is a protected structure and dates to 1686 just a decade after Ormond Quay was reclaimed from the river and its marshy edges.

To the left, numbers 12 and 13 are protected structures dating from the early part of the 18th century and will form part of the hotel redevelopment but have to be incorporated into the new development.

There is no doubt that the Ormond Hotel was an important and historic part of Dublin’s old and modern fabric, but there is also no doubt that the building had become an eyesore in recent decades.

The best course of action to prevent urban decay, and there is a lot of decay and degeneration in Ireland, not just in Dublin, is to prevent key buildings such as the Ormond Hotel from becoming disused and dilapidated in the first place.

The redevelopment of the Ormond Hotel was due to be finished in 2020, but it is still nowhere near getting off the ground in what seems like an appropriately epic story.