Summer has finished in Ireland although a late burst of fine weather in late September is helping to make up for what was a disappointing few months; it was summer only in name.

Summer in Ireland. It wasn't really tangible in 2015.

Most places in Ireland recorded a wetter, duller and colder summer (June, July and August) than usual.

This evening's image shows the level of water in the lake during a colourful and characterful sunset in the west of Ireland. Rainy at sunset, unlike this last sunset but with the same colours.

After a busy week I can now appreciate the crepuscles and with a rainy few days the sun finally made a brief appearance below the cloud base just before sunset in the west of Ireland.

The lower sky was illuminated with hues of orange and red while the top remained blue and evening-like both portions reflecting in the calm waters of the lake, windless and magical.

What a week that was!

Friday saw me leaving home to head to a big field in Co. Laois for the biggest and best festival of the year in Ireland, Electric Picnic.

Packing the car with tent, sleeping bag, camera gear, laptop, clothes and everything else needed to keep warm, clean and well nourished I headed
off along with 50,000 others (not all in my car obviously) in the direction of Portlaoise then to Stradbally where, like last year, I parked up in the Red Car Park.

On a recent morning I went to the coast for sunrise. After a long day previous saw me travelling far and wide through Northern Ireland I rested for a short while before heading out at sunrise. The coast was quiet except for passing rain showers and the gentle movement of the sea slowly retreating.

As a vast expanse of sandy foreshore was revealed numerous birds appeared and began their daily ritual of looking for food in the sand, on the rocks and on the water's edge.

I stood and watched, waiting for the passing showers to fade away. The light constantly changing and safe from the precipitation now falling over the sea, my camera was dry and capturing the scene.

Join me on a photography tour in scenic Ireland and learn to make panoramic images.

It has been a strange summer, the summer of 2015 in Ireland with rain, rain and more rain mixed in with wind and only the rare sighting of our lovely bright sun.

That all of course makes the good weather, as rare as it has been, to be treasured more.

The sea stack of Dun Briste on County Mayo's north coast is one of the most spectacular scenes on a spectacular coastline stretching over 2,500km along Ireland's Atlantic seaboard.

Dun Briste or Dún Briste meaning Broken Fort in Irish refers to this small but impressive vertical island on the edge of the Atlantic. In this image, layers of rocks on the stacks exposed sides hint at a sedimentary geological origin.

The common lizard Zootoca vivipara building up warmth in the heat of the middle of the day.

It seems a bit odd to call this lizard common in Ireland as they are not often seen and many people don't even know we have them - extrapolating the ancient story of Saint Patrick banishing snakes after having been bitten by one - to mean lizards as well. The common perception is that lizards are found in exotic Asian or Mediterranean countries but not in Ireland.

Since at least 36AD when Chinese astronomers first noted the annual light show that is the Perseid meteor shower, people have been watching the spectacular night sky in August each year.

Earth passes through the dust and debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle as it travels through our solar system on its 133-year orbit around the sun. As the small particles enter Earth's atmosphere they burn up approximately 80km above the surface of our planet. In doing so they create bright, colourful streaks across the sky. If it is night time and if the moon isn't bright like this year then the Perseids are a wonderful sight.

The summer so far in Ireland in 2015 has been wet, cold and cloudy. Quite challenging for the landscape photographer really. And very challenging for tourists. Yes many visitors to this small island have already heard the stories of how cold and wet it is but in reality it's usually not too bad.