One reason we picked Kinsale, besides just wanting to see the town, was that it is about half way between Galley Head and Cobh, our other photo destination for County Cork. So after checking in to our B&B the sky looked promising so we headed out to Galley Head to see what  the photo gods would give us at sunset.

Ireland, as one would expect, has lots of lighthouses but the really good candidates for photography are rather few. They require a fairly serious expedition, as they are stuck out on these long peninsulas, or actually on islands, with a mix of public and private land, so extensive scouting is needed to get the best angle. And some have not reopened to the public since the covid lockdowns.

We drove the coast road which took us along the undulating coastline of West Cork, as it is called. The tide was out so the vast tidal flats were on show.  

_8502749 Here's an interesting stand of trees at low tide.

We arrived in plenty of time to find the best locations and while we waited for the golden hour I got a few shots from the cliffs.

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As the sun was going down a thin overcast formed on the western horizon which diffused the light and color quite a bit but we did eke out a little bit of warm light. I guess the final result was worthwhile.

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Next day the main plan was to go into Cobh and photograph St. Colman Cathedral but I knew I wanted afternoon light for that so we scouted up a little beach that had some interesting structure on it.  We headed out at a civilized hour and let Gladys navigate. That's Gladys P. Smith, AKA GPS. She took us to this little cove which had no beach but was kind of interesting anyway.

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We gave her another chance to find Rocky Bay beach and this time she succeeded. It was a nice beach but it was high tide so no unusual structure. I was finally figuring out how close you have to watch the tides on these coastal shots. One more thing to juggle along with the light and the weather. The pictures came out okay. Might make good black & whites.

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Cobh is the port town for the city of Cork. Many ships made their last European call here before crossing the Atlantic and by the late 19^th century it was the primary embarkation point for those emigrating from Ireland. The most famous ship to stop here during this period was the RMS Titanic, just before heading out to her doom. 120 Irish emigrants boarded her at Cobh.

Cobh must have been a prosperous town to have built a cathedral this impressive. It commands the entire skyline and the view of the harbor and it has 49 bells in the steeple.

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Below is the iconic shot of St. Colmans behind the “Deck of Cards”, the nickname of the row of houses in front.

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Ever wonder what Jeanne Marie does while waiting for me to take a picture?

_8502984 I'm trying to get her to charge for this service. At $1 a person she could easily make more money in photography than I do.

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Below is JM's shot of the Deck of Cards.

IMG_6666 And Kitty O'Shea's was our Kinsale hangout.

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Tomorrow we head for County Kerry where we spend the next seven days.