Many of us will know the Swan Hellenic name but few will know that it has been given a rebirth, in 2020, with three new ships and varied itineraries that cover the globe.

The opportunity to learn, explore and in some cases contribute to knowledge is an important factor for many when choosing a holiday. Swan Hellenic have a long legacy of discovery tours, with their first cruise in 1954 organised for the Hellenic Travellers’ Club, which had been founded by Lord Byron in 1906. Head of Classics at London University, Francis Kinchin-Smith led the cruise and invited three guest lecturers for the 14-day cruise around the sites of ancient Greece.

SH Vega has just completed her inaugural circumnavigation of Ireland, stopping at Bantry, Dingle, Galway, Portrush and the Causeway Coast before heading to Skye in Scotland and down to Dublin allowing more people to see and experience Ireland's sights.

When I first see her from the Samuel Beckett Bridge looking down towards Dublin Port, she is moored at Cruise Berth 18 right beside the Thomas Clarke Bridge, more commonly known as the East Link and the Point / 3 Arena.

Dublin is a place of colour and charm, here the setting sun brightens up the sky over the River Liffey.

On the photography workshop we experimented with silhouettes of the famous skyline from this part of Dublin.

The colours and dark outlines of the city's buildings captured the atmosphere of the evening in the Irish capital.

Join Panoramic Ireland to photograph Dublin on one of our Dublin Photo Tours.

It's almost Christmas, the end of another year and another decade; here at Panoramic Ireland we have been busy photographing Dublin as always.

2019 has reached December and, for the second year, more than a dozen of Dublin's buildings and streets have been illuminated to give the city a more welcoming feel.

Dublin's Four Courts reflected in the River Liffey.

One of the city's finest buildings the Four Courts is seen here with reflections in the River Liffey at sunset.

Dating to the end of the eighteenth century, the fine building was begun by architect Thomas Cooley who designed the Royal Exchange, which is now City Hall; it was finished by Dublin's most famous architect, James Gandon in 1784 after Cooley's death.

Gandon also designed the Custom House in Dublin.

At the centre of the building a 19.5 metre diameter round hall topped with a large dome that makes for an unmistakable presence in Dublin's skyline.

The buildings were extensively destroyed in 1922 before being brought back into use in the 1930s.

And it was here that so many of Ireland's centuries-old records were lost during the Civil War - parliamentary records, parish and civil records and more. This is why it is so hard to trace Irish ancestry, so many documents were all held in one place with no copies held elsewhere, a lesson that we are all too careful of in the digital age.

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Dublin's Four Courts hasn't looked like this in a while, bound by scaffolding. Seen here with reflections in the River Liffey. Dating to the end of the eighteenth century, the buildings were extensively destroyed in 1922 before being brought back into use in the 1930s. . . . . . . . . . . #travelgram #neverstopexploring #beautifuldestinations #adventureculture #earthpix #instagood #nakedplanet #bbctravel #natgeotravel #travelblog #AdventureVisuals #Irish #panoramicireland #vsco #lifeofadventure #vscocam #vscotravel #tripadvisor #ireland #hikingadventures #dublin #urban #liffey #architecturelovers #mycanon #architecture #getoutandexplore #enjoythecity #reflections #lovedublin

A post shared by @ panoramicireland on Mar 12, 2018 at 4:50pm PDT