The Mourne Mountains are the highest and most dramatic mountains in Northern Ireland.

The Mournes sit some 35 miles south of Belfast and visible from parts of the city, most notably those views served as inspiration to CS Lewis for Narnia in his famous tales.

Composed mainly of granite the Mourne Mountains are rugged and peaky, crossed by many paths and surrounded by lush green countryside as seen here.

And of course, the Mournes are the subject of a famous song by Percy French called Mountains of Mourne.

The whole town of London stood there to look on

But for all his great powers, he's wishful like me

To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea

Here in the image below, Slieve Donard at the highest point in the Mournes at 853m as the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea under a sky filled with sunrays that would inspire any writer or musician, or indeed photographer.

Join Panoramic Ireland to photograph in the scenic landscapes of the Mourne Mountains and County Down.

Snow has finally arrived, the 9th of March 2022 and a decent amount too but it is unlikely to last for long.

Ireland has been under a weather warning for wind, rain and snow over the past two days.

When this snow melts, expect flooding.

For now, the landscape is quiet and the colour of the countryside is temporarily changed from green to white.

Saint Patrick's Day is close, March 17th, and we will expect to see a lot more green in Ireland over the next few weeks.

So, to answer one of the most common questions about Irish weather - does it snow in Ireland? - well yes, it does but it's hard to say when it will happen.

Count yourself lucky to experience it unless you have to get somewhere, because the back roads can be treacherously slippy.

Ireland is currently under a blanket of snow and while spring has started snow is not unusual in March. 

Indeed a few years ago, in 2018, we had heavy snowfall on Saint Patrick's Day and much of the month we had heavy snow with the 'Beast from the East' - although that term has taken on new meaning in recent weeks.

It will only be a short snowfall though, there is no more in the forecast and it will mostly be melted in a few days.

Time to look forward to the longer days of late spring and early summer.

Above is a fine sunset from the west of Ireland.

Join me in photographing the landscapes and coast of Ireland in 2022, send me an email to enquire for availability or ask any questions.

Ireland's Wicklow Mountains are scenic throughout the year, in any season.

Seen here in winter with a little snow in the distance, the colour red dominates the wild landscape under a blue sky. Although Ireland is mostly green, even through the winter, there are places that are less so.

If you are looking for something to do close to Dublin when you are in Ireland, take Panoramic Ireland's Wicklow Photography Workshop to see and photograph this stupendous county.

For more information contact me.

After my last post mentioning the lack of snow thus far in winter 2021-2022, a vista of fresh snowfall in Ireland, the green of the Irish countryside whitened for a short time.

In places, particularly the northwest of the country, enough snow fell to make travel hazardous but further south and east there was only a dusting of snow as seen here.

As of the afternoon, almost all of this snow has gone save for some at the foot of the deep hedges seen here where the sun doesn't reach, behind the orange and green gorse in the middle of the image.

There is a lengthening of daylight as we edge closer to the start of meteorological spring (you might have seen my posts about traditional spring beginning on February 1st) and despite the storms of recent weeks, the days are getting brighter.

Of course with the Irish weather being so unpredictable we still have the potential for snow up to at least the end of March.

A fine afternoon sky from today in Ireland with rays of the sun . 

Sunbeams break through fast moving clouds as the sun edges past the hypotenuse of this nebulous triangle into clear blue sky for a short time.

The hills and low mountains of Ireland, illuminated in places into the distance.

After a fine scene of golden winter light yesterday, this definitely made a perfect afternoon outing with camera to mark three years since my cancer operation. Indeed it reminded me of this image from the time of my chemotherapy.

For the first time in a while I ventured back to one of my favourite locations for landscape photography today.

And, although the prevailing conditions were cloudy and windy, for a moment late afternoon sunshine broke through to illuminate the mountain ridge and enhance the red hues of the bracken and heather covered landscape.

Seven sheep are just visible, grazing the meagre mountainside.

Even in winter, in late January, the weather was mild with temperatures of 11C.

From a high vantage point in the drumlin country of County Armagh, I spotted a large plume of smoke heading into the atmosphere.

At first I thought it must be an industrial unit on fire, because of the sheer volume; this was no chimney fire.

As I descended to lower ground, I could see that it was coming from the direction of Newry, County Down, so I headed in the direction of the town and followed the dark skies close to main road.

Eventually I found a close place to observe and photograph the inferno.

Autumn is well and truly here in Ireland.

We have now passed the autumn equinox by around six weeks, with six weeks to go to the shortest day of the year. 

Temperatures are dropping along with the shortening day length, but we do have clear blue skies this week.

Autumn is a time of colour of course, so woodlands and the mountains take on a stereotypical burst of colour as green moves to yellow, brown and red.

Time to enjoy photographing the pockets of deciduous woodland that dot the Irish landscape.

A recent photography tour in County Donegal brought us to the edge of a mountain to photograph the landscape of Ireland's most northerly county.

The weather was overcast, torrential rain had put an early end to photographic pursuits the previous evening, so despite a long journey across the country we headed off to photograph at least a few of the scenes missed.

Just off the boggy path, sodden from the recent heavy precipitation, we spotted a relaxed sheep just sitting on the edge of a rock. 

With a smile it watched our every move, unperturbed by our presence and the glass of our long lenses pointed right at it.

No doubt finding mirth at our clumsy perambulation across the narrow, slippy track.

For a time this was the most photographed sheep in Donegal, and the most accommodating, as it continued with its perfect pose for some time.

A moment of utilitarianism.

On we went in search of waterfalls and ancient ruins.

Join Panoramic Ireland, that's me, to photograph in the Irish mountains or the urban wilderness of Dublin.