Ireland is currently on a Level 5 lockdown due to the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic, the country had one of the best - lowest - rates of infection in Europe until recent weeks where we unfortunately saw the 14-day incidence rate become the highest in the world.

Now as Ireland grapples to try and reduce one of the world's highest 14-day incidence rates of Coronavirus infections, it would seem that travel will not be similar to what we call normal until late summer, most likely autumn, of 2021 but let's follow the path towards the rainbow.

They say you'll find gold at the end of a rainbow, that certainly hasn't literally happened to me but there is visual gold in rainbows. Here a faint double rainbow is visible to the right of the image.

Patience and optimism is a key attribute in any photographic endeavour, particularly in landscape photography.

And for that reason, Panoramic Ireland are taking no-deposit required, freely cancellable bookings for 2021 and 2022 - private tours and workshops in Ireland.

Travel in Ireland - December 2020 Coronavirus Update

As of yesterday, December 3rd 2020 Ireland has exited from six weeks of Level 5 coronavirus lockdown meaning that shops can now reopen, pubs serving food and restaurants can open also. Traditional pubs, not serving food, can't reopen as yet - there are many restrictions as the country is now on Level 3.

Travellers from most countries still have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Ireland but as of 29th November 2020 visitors can take a PCR test for COVID-19 after five days of being in Ireland. Here's the text:

Post arrival testing of passengers

With effect from midnight 29 November 2020

Passengers arriving from an “orange” or “red” or “grey” region are to restrict their movements for 14 days (other than the categories outlined above).

This period of restricted movement can end if you receive a negative/’not detected’ result of a PCR test that has been taken a minimum of five days after your arrival in Ireland. You should wait for your negative test result to be returned before ending the period of restricted movements.

From: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#covid-19-tests-for-international-travel

And yes the above first applied to European arrivals but now applies to all overseas visitors into Ireland.

So you can take a test no less than five days from arrival and upon a negative result you can travel throughout the country.

At the moment most Irish people are limited to staying in their own county for some bizarre reason that I have talked about before, so with checkpoints on the motorways and around the towns of Ireland don't expect your journey to go swiftly. It's difficult to say what the law is for overseas visitors, maybe you would be limited only to travelling in the county where you are staying. The usual rules of wearing a mask, staying 2 metres apart etc... still apply.

Also, having 1,2 or 3 negative PCR tests does not entitle Irish people who have been a close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 to reduce their quarantine from 14 days, so expect some strange looks, disbelief and attitude from the locals when you tell them that you can travel freely while they can't.

Ireland currently has the lowest rate of infections from COVID-19 in Europe, but expect that to increase again as we get towards Christmas and the New Year so we are likely to see another change in lockdown level, potentially around January 6th 2021.

Numbers will rise again and movement will need to be restricted again before vaccines are distributed and become effective.

But we should see plenty of travel opportunities opening up beyond Spring and into Summer 2021.

For Panoramic Ireland's photography tours you can make a provisional booking now for 2021 - no payment is required until we are closer to the time so it is a no-risk no deposit booking.

If you are planning a holiday to Ireland in 2021 do contact me to enquire for availability.

The old farmhouse sits, slowly decaying amongst trees planted by former inhabitants of this bleak place; in an almost treeless landscape in the Irish mountains.

I visited on a recent sunny afternoon, the fine cut sandstone absorbing late day sunshine colour, grass slowly subsuming those stones fallen onto the ground in a gradual softening and reclaiming of the man-made scene.

Here, the only shade in the entire mountain range was to be found under these lush green leaves as a strong westerly wind whistled past.

Panoramic Ireland's photography tours aren't running just yet but will return soon, join us for a photography workshop in summer 2021 here in Ireland - in Dublin, the Antrim Coast, Galway and beyond.

Keep up to date here:

This post marks Panoramic Ireland's 500th blog post here on panoramicirelanc.com.

A year after treatment for cancer and I am still posting of photographic adventures throughout Ireland.

The image above is of Cork, the River Lee at night and Saint Finbarre's Cathedral. I photographed this fine scene for Eater, the world's most popular food website as part of their Where to eat in 2020 and Cork was one of the few cities in Europe to be on the list. Have a look at the images and Cork article here.

On a recent roadtrip through the Irish countryside, I found a fine field of rapeseed, also known as canola - one of the most widely grown plants used for cooking oils derived from its seed.

With a fine blue spring sky overhead and a bright wide field of golden flowers the colours reminded of the traditional colours of County Tipperary, one of Ireland's most scenic counties; and how appropriate because I was in County Tipperary at the time. The county's sports teams often play with blue and gold striped jerseys, particularly the Tipperary GAA team.

It was also one of the first days that I have been exploring with my camera since starting chemotherapy.

I took a walk around Dublin's Merrion Square recently, finishing at the Oscar Wilde statue, see the video here on Instagram's IGTV.

View this post on Instagram

Merrion Square, Dublin. Statues and memorials including the Irish flag and Oscar Wilde's statue. . . #travelgram #neverstopexploring #beautifuldestinations #adventureculture #earthpix #instagood #nakedplanet #bbctravel #natgeotravel #travelblog #AdventureVisuals #Irish #panoramicireland #vsco #lifeofadventure #vscocam #vscotravel #tripadvisor #ireland #hikingadventures #dublin #urban #irishdefenceforces #architecturelovers #canon #architecture #getoutandexplore #merrionsquare #oscarwilde #lovedublin

A post shared by @ panoramicireland on Dec 12, 2018 at 2:55pm PST

Graveyards in Ireland

The stereotype of graveyards often is that they are sombre, forlorn places but in Ireland, as indeed in many parts of the world, the graveyard is often a colourful place full of wildlife and of course most usually quiet.

Here is no exception, this small graveyard in County Tipperary shows traditional style crosses and headstones amongst bright grass under a blue sky.

One of my favourite Irish locations is no longer a secret place, my own County Antrim's Dark Hedges.

Known to us locally as Bregagh Road the Dark Hedges have seen a lot of visitors in recent years due to the influx of Game of Thrones fans from around the world.

This avenue of beech trees has become arguably Ireland's most photographed road, I've written about it before here on Panoramic Ireland of course but this is one of my favourites from 2006, long before this scenic road became famous and had hardly any visitors.

Join me on a photography tour of the Antrim Coast, a place I know well, to learn how to make better travel photographs here at the Dark Hedges and along the amazing Causeway Coast.

The Irish pub, scene of many a good evening but traditionally not on Good Friday one of only two days of the year when pubs are not allowed to open in Ireland - until now.

2018 sees the end of the ban on pubs opening on Good Friday due to the amendment of a law from 1927.

Not very high, the mountains of Ireland are nevertheless full of character and are actually often dusted with snow in the winter.

At 1,038m, Carrauntoohil is the highest point in Ireland; we don't have much in the way of high altitude but in the winter there is snow at 300m and above in many of the mountains for some of the year.