This ash tree marks a little high point, a prominence at the entrance to a small enclosure, beside the ruins of an old stone thatched cottage.

Only a few of the foundation stones remain here, the cottage long since tumbled but this impressive ash, estimated to be 140 years old, still stands and was probably a young tree when the house was still occupied.

I have written about ash trees, known as fuinseog in Irish, before here on panoramicireland.com especially in reference to the disease that is currently making its way through the Irish countryside to destroy one of the most valued and characterful species on the island.

This poor ash might not see out its natural 300-400 year lifespan and end up like so many, a dendritic dead fossil of a once thriving ecosystem.

Ireland is full of ruins, it's also full of church ruins.

Many of the ruins are scenic in their broken state, centuries of tumble down action, ivy growth and fine locations but few are more scenic than the ruins of Dunlewey in County Donegal.

Threecastles, County Wicklow - Ireland

I've been out photographing in the Irish countryside in recent weeks as autumn makes its way across Ireland.

On one of the bright blue-sky days I stopped at Threecastles in County Wicklow, south-west of Dublin.

A recent photography tour took me back to County Cork and after finishing, since it was such a fine day, I went exploring in the Irish countryside.

Here I found Barrymore Castle in the north of County Cork, ruined since the 1770s it was built in the 1620s and was once a majestic home. 

Now it is only ruins and ivy, standing on a bluff overlooking a small river. Unlike many of the ruins dotting the Irish countryside this one was not destroyed in some war or conflict but in a conflagration that some say lasted for months, during repairs to the roof.

See my exploration of Barrymore Castle below on Panoramic Ireland's YouTube channel.

The weather wasn't going to cooperate on this day that I had set aside for some photography in Sligo.

 And yes, the white specks are sheep on the mountain side.