galwaycinematography

Inside a Catholic Church in Ireland

Cottage ruin looking out too the Atlantic Ocean in Connemara

The mode famous route in Ireland

Timelapse sunrise on Galway bay ireland

An outstanding and influential twentieth century poet

Here sits a crumbling cottage at the foot of the hills. I think of it’s people and history while I say a little prayer in my mind for the souls that once lived and worked there.

The sun setting down in Carna,Connemara ireland

This person was flying their drone at a friend's place when an angry bird gives it a couple warnings. Time to leave!

Driving the highs of connemara ,, there aint no lows when you reach here its all beautiful

Listening to the stones singing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifden_Castle

Stunning footage of a starling murmuration is captured on camera on the west coast of Ireland. So cool!

This fine cut-stone group of buildings was erected in 1852. It served the poor of the parishes of Templeport, Corlough, Kildallan, Drumreilly, Newtowngore, Ballinamore, Swanlinbar and part of Glangevlin. A Board of Guardians governed each union; some nominated by the Grand jury and others by the voters of the rate-payers. The Guardians levied a rate on the union and used the proceeds to support the workhouse. Discipline was strict in the workhouse and the diet was limited. Men were segregated from their wives and children from their parents.

The hill has been made famous due to its historical importance and to the fairy legends that surround it. Two of the three Cairns at the summit are said to be the resting place of Queen Maeve of Connacht and Ceasair, one of the first goddesses of Ireland. She was a granddaughter to Noah. When she was refused entry onto the ark, she decided to create her own ark and led a group of people to Ireland in the hopes of starting fresh there. The central cairn of the three is named Carn Ceasra, after her. Another of the Cairns was remodelled as Finnbheara’s (Finnvara) Castle. The place where Finnbheara the King of the Connacht fairies holds his court of Daoine Sidhe. In some legends he is also referred to as being the King of the Dead.

A little gem of a beach Atlantic Coast

Castle Taylor was a 16th century tower house formerly known as Ballymcgrath. In 1802 the Taylor family added to it and much altered it. It was inhabited up to the 1930s. The original four storey tower house to the left side of the structure has had two large three-three light windows inserted in its east wall, the windows are said to have come from the churches at Kilmacduagh. At the right side of the structure is a balancing three storey tower, between the towers is a three-bay three-storey house, this house is now totally gutted. The castle has a large walled garden at the rear and a little further off is another walled yard and a stable block.

Best Cave In Ireland

James II's troops burned the castle in 1689. Months later, 400 of King James's soldiers were ambushed here while on retreat from the battle at Newtownbutler. They were driven toward the Finn River and many drowned. The present castle dates to 1840 and was destroyed by fire in 1990.

The end for Castle Gore came September 3, 1921, when a band of masked and armed men surrounded the house with the intention of burning it down. The caretaker said that sixteen men arrived at the door of the castle at 2 o’clock in the morning. When he answered the door, he was faced by a number of revolvers and placed under guard. The masked men proceeded to saturate the building with petrol and paraffin oil which ignited quickly. In a few moments the mansion was a mass of flames and by day break was in ruins. A newspaper report from the time said that the castle contained very valuable antiques and oil paintings. There were 350 paintings supposedly lost in the fire and the damage to the house was estimated at £100,000. Later the same month a claim for compensation in the amount of £30,000 was lodged with the Provisional Government by the Earl of Arran for ‘deconstruction of premises’ at Castle Gore. Given the low amount of compensation sought, possibly a lot of paintings and items from Castle Gore had been removed to England for safe keeping. This was a decision taken by many landlords at the time as they were all too well aware of the threat posed of having their houses in Ireland burnt down. As Castle Gore was let out on occasion and with the small amount of time the Earl spent there, I would imagine that the majority of personal effects and valuable items left the mansion in Crossmolina long before the fire occurred in 1921. The house continues to stand in the landscape but its gaunt walls bear little resemblance to the house that existed before 1921. The ancient Deel Castle, the Castle Gore ruins and the estate lands were eventually sold to the Land Commission who divided them up among former tenants of the estate. The Earls of Arran maybe gone from County Mayo but the estate did have a connection with another great house in Ireland. Lady Beit of Russborough House in County Wicklow was the grand daughter of Mabell, Countess of Airlie, who was a daughter of the fifth Earl of Arran, who had grown up at Castle Gore. In more recent times the ruins of the house were to suffer another indignity, when in the 1950s the local authority tried to dynamite the ruin in the interests of public safety. This act of further vandalism on Castle Gore only resulted in one corner being blown off, leaving the truncated hulk that we see today.

My friend showing and explaining to me this wasps nest.

Cooper’s Lodge but was once known as Croagh Lodge. This shooting lodge appears on the 1837 OS Map and was owned by the wealthy and powerful Cooper Family of Markree Castle in Co. Sligo, hence it became known as Cooper's Lodge. All that remains today of this building are its bedraggled gables that are in a state of gradual collapse in the stark setting of the surrounding bog land. There are long forgotten stories associated with these ruins that have now come to light. Cooper’s Lodge was once home to a number of game keepers over the years who were in the employment of the Cooper family, including one unfortunate individual who met a violent end in 1880. Is this the restless spirit that supposedly haunts these ruins and is this the reason for which this house was abandoned? In 1869, it was reported that Colonel Cooper’s game keeper, William Nichol, shot a fine female golden eagle on Dunowl Mountain near Lough Easky in Sligo with one charge of No. 06 shot. The bird measured seven and a half feet from tip to tip of its wings and it was said to be the largest of its kind that had ever been seen in the area. William Nichol and his family lived nearby at Croagh Lodge, known locally as Cooper’s Lodge, which they maintained for use by Colonel Cooper of Markree and his guests. A number of years later, in 1880, William Nichol’s name would again appear in the headlines of the local newspaper, however on this occasion, William would be one that would die at the hands of another. On St. Patrick’s Day in 1880, William Nichol was assaulted by persons unknown and the injuries inflicted were so severe that he died a number of days later on the 23rd of March. He had been found lying on the road leading to Dromore West having been severely beaten, he was removed to the nearest Constabulary Barracks and was then moved to the hospital located in the nearby workhouse. William’s death certificate recorded that he was aged 60 and had died as a result of ‘violence with several injuries’ and ‘inflammation of the brain’. A reward of £200 was offered for any information on the attack on William but none was forthcoming. William’s widow Anne and their son aged 17, also named William, applied to the Grand Jury of Sligo for compensation of £250 for the suspicious death of the head of the Nichol Family. It is said a number of years before the murder there been a dispute over land. Former tenants blamed William for their land being taken from them and resentment had been brewing over the intervening years. It was reported at the time that ‘It was Nichol who advised the Colonel to take in the plantation. I heard he incautiously said he would take in the whole valley’. Another possible explanation for the attack on William is he was alleged to have passed information to the police about illicit poteen distilleries in the proximity of the shooting lodge. In October 1882, an application for compensation was made to the Lord Lieutenant by Anne Nichol. As part of this process, William and Anne’s children were named as Matthew, Alexander, William, Charles, Mary and Jane. As part of the application, it was said that William was murdered from being beaten by a party of men and as a result of the injuries he sustained, he died a number of days later. It is also recorded that he had been murdered as a result of an ‘unlawful association’ but this is never elaborated on. The Lord Lieutenant intended to open an investigation into the murder within one week of the application however it did not result in any conviction. During the application for compensation held in Tubbercurry in 1883, it was noted that William, as Colonel Cooper’s gamekeeper, was paid €140 per annum and had the use of Croagh Lodge. His widow Anne was eventually awarded £700 for the wrongful death of her husband which was payable by the Barony of Tireragh however no one was brought to justice for the murder of William Nichol. At the time of the 1901 census there is a house listed in the townland of Crowagh as having nine windows in its entrance front, nine rooms in its interior and a slate roof. This is most definitely Cooper’s Lodge as it is listed as being owned by The Right Honorable Edward Henry Cooper of Markree Castle, in Co. Sligo. In 1901, the game keeper in residence was Robert Walton Winters aged 46, a Presbyterian, born in Sligo who could speak both Irish and English. He was married to Isabella aged 36, a house keeper born in Sligo and also resident in the lodge was Francis Mc Hugh, aged 18, a Roman Catholic, born in Sligo and who was listed as being a servant. The owner of the lodge was Lieutenant Colonel, the Right Honorable Edward Henry Cooper who died soon after the census being carried out on the 26th February 1902 aged 74. He had been Lord Lieutenant for Sligo, was late of the 7th Hussars, Grenadier Guards and had been a Member of Parliament for Sligo from 1865. Among the many bequests in his will was £2,000 to be kept in trust for the repair and maintenance of the observatory at Markree Castle. By 1911, the house was now owned by Captain Byran Ricco Cooper, the grandson of Edward Henry Cooper, the house is recorded as having eight out offices, ten windows in its entrance front and ten rooms in its interior. Byran had inherited the impressive Markree Castle in Co. Sligo, which according to the 1901 census had 104 rooms, sat in a demesne of a 1,000 acres in addition to a deer park of 200 acres surrounded by estate lands that extended to 30,000 acres. The more modest shooting lodge near Lough Easky at this time was home to Nathan Campbell, aged 51 from Donegal, a gamekeeper and his wife Anna Selina aged 48 from Cork who have been married for 23 years. They had six children but only five are living in 1911. Four sons are present in the house at the time of the census, Robert Cecil aged 17, Richard Maxwell aged 17, Frederick James aged 15 and Nathan Percival aged 8. The two elder sons were born in Mayo while the younger pair were born in Sligo. The name of the house being Croagh Lodge is confirmed from an advertisement that appeared in 1907, when Nathan Campbell was selling his pony, harness and trap and it mentioned that these can be viewed at ‘Croagh Lodge’ Major Bryan Ricco Cooper died at his residence in 1930 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, the exotically named Khyber Pass. He was born in India in 1884, the son of Major F.E. Cooper and the grandson of Col. Edward Henry Cooper. He was educated at Eton and Woolwich, he became Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in 1903. In 1905, he resigned and was gazetted to the Duke of Connaught’s own Sligo Militia as Captain. In 1914, he resigned and was gazetted as Captain to the 5th Battalion of the Connaught Rangers. In 1910 he was elected as a Unionist M.P. for South County Dublin, he was a Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff for Sligo while also becoming Press Censor in 1919. In 1923, he was returned to the Dail as an Independent candidate for Dublin and again in 1927. A marriage in 1910 produced four children but ended in divorce in 1920. Bryan died at the young age of 46 in 1930 and after bequests were made, the residue of his estate passed to his son, Edward F. Cooper. In December 1938, a young girl, named Maggie Ann Mullarky, recorded a story told to her by her grandfather about the lodge being haunted. What is interesting about this story is that it mentions that the lodge is in ruins at this time. Newspaper reports from the 1930’s may provide a reason why the idea of the house being haunted was promoted. At various times, people were arrested for keeping poteen stills near the house which was then referred to as ‘Byran Cooper’s famous shooting lodge’. Tales of a ghost would have kept curious onlookers away from the house and left those distilling there undisturbed. In 1939 another individual was arrested for unlawful distilling and he was found ‘near an old shooting lodge on the mountain’. Markree Castle has recently passed out of the ownership of the Cooper family and their former shooting lodge outside Dromore West will soon cease to exist. The few weather beaten walls still standing, bear little testament to the local civil unrest nearly 140 years ago that resulted in the death of William Nichol.

Mass Rock at Mass Hill, Cloonacool, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. Old School - Built 1910, Masshill During the time the Penal Laws were being enforced in Ireland Priests were forbidden to say Mass and if any Priest were found doing so, he was put to death. Priests then began to say Mass in secret, in lovely places generally behind large Rocks which were known as "Mass Rocks". About three hundred yards from the main road leading from Bundoran to Sligo - and at the rear of the late Pat Gillan's (shoemaker) house, in the townland of Carns, Parish of Ahamlish, Barony of Carbury, Co Sligo is a "Mass Rock". It is situated in a corner of the field. At the time that Mass was said at this Rock, this was a very lonely place because the main road was not where it is today, but ran quite close to the sea. The Rock is about four feet long, two feet [wide] and three feet high. Today you will find a peaceful place with a statue of St. Patrick placed on top of the Mass rock. The statue was placed there to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Catholic Emancipation, when the Penal laws were lifted. Folklore story The Hidden Treasure of the Mass Rock. Masshill is famous for its historical places and also places where treasures are supposed to be hidden. The following is a story of a crock of gold. It is hidden under a holly bush about forty yards away from the statue of St. Patrick on the Mass Rock. It is said that there is a big speckled cat minding the gold. It is supposed that a human life must be lost before anyone can get the crock. One day a man was crossing by the bush at night. He saw the crock of gold and a big cat sitting on it. The cat started to spit at the man who ran home and as he entered his own house he fainted. He was put to bed but he did not recover until two days. A man heard the story and made an effort to get the gold by digging under the bush. When he had dug for some distance the cat appeared and with a fierce look he tried to catch the man. The man ran home quickly and told his adventure to his people. That night he was about to sleep when he heard a noise and looking over at the window of his room he saw the cat. He was terribly frightened. The cat let three squeals and jumped down off the window. So from that onwards he had no power in his right arm. It was supposed that it was the cat that cursed him.

In 1912, Castle Lacken Co. Mayo was advertised to let as having 3 large sitting rooms, 10 bedrooms, servants rooms and domestic offices. By 1925, it was said that ' there was nothing at all left in Castle Lacken - windows or anything else except a few stone walls'. More Info In Link Below. http://www.sacredlandscapes.ie/the-lacken-gazebo.html

Watch the spider get rid of a ball of paper from his web

By John Gerrard. Located in Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara, Leaf Work is a lone melancholic virtual character on the screen, clad in oak leaves. Derrigimlagh Bog was the site of transmission of the first transatlantic radio signal from the Marconi station in 1907 and the site of Alcock and Brown’s first transatlantic plane crossing in 1919. In Leaf Work the character performs a lament for the effects of these human advances on the non-human world and its relentless suffering. She walks a simple circle, a choreography based on the position of the sun and her lament is the antithesis of the triumph of Corn Work.