Helen Williams, trying to hide from the frigid cold in a beehive in West Kerry.
A fully-restored "beehive" hut in west Kerry.
View through an entrance-way of a semi-collapsed beehive hut. West Kerry.
Looking up through the roof of beehive hut. West Kerry.
Looking out from inside a beehive hut. West Kerry.
A view down one of the exterior passages in the beehive complex. West Kerry.
More beehive (had enough of these yet? I think I have!)
OK, so one last look from the beehives before we move on!
My brother Geoff Roesch, trying to figure how to best protect himself from this damnable Irish weather.
Geoff finally discovers a very unique approach to dressing for Irish winters. (Although the rest of us have some serious questions about the practicality of his approach)
The entrance to Kilburn House, Milltown
A long shot down the driveway to Kilburn House.
A display of "standing stones", near Milltown.
More of the standing stones near Milltown.
One of the standing stones, with Ogham inscriptions visible on the face and edges.
Your's truly (Dave Roesch), freezing my bloody arse off next to the Ogham stone in some miserable friggin' weather. After carefully deciphering the ages-old Ogham inscriptions on the stone, I discovered that they translate almost exactly into English as: "Why the Devil are you standing next to me, freezing your bloody arse off, in this miserable friggin' weather?" Given that, I'll never again question the fact that the gift of prophecy does indeed run strong in the Irish blood 😉
The abandoned and dilapidated cemetery grounds at Kilcolman Burial Ground, about a mile from Kilburn House in Milltown.
The entrance to Kilcolman Burial Ground. Dave Roesch pictured.
The remains of the Kilcolman Burial Ground chapel. Geoff Roesch in the foreground, Helen Williams in the background.
Walking Kilcolman's abandoned cemetery. Pictured is Geoff Roesch.
Another shot of Kilcolman's abandoned cemetery grounds.
A dilapidated (and quite open) grave at Kilcolman. At the time of our visit, the sorry state of the graves here had become more than a bit of a local issue.
A close-up of one of the open tombs at Kilcolman. If you enlarge this picture, you can actually make out the bones of several bodies inside.
Clonmacnoise; a famous monastery founded in 544 AD. County Offaly.
Clonmacnoise; a famous monastery founded in 544 AD. County Offaly.
The tower at Clonmacnoise. The man in the picture is my brother, Geoff Roesch.
The tower at Clonmacnoise. Again, with Geoff in the foreground.
Clonmacnoise. Looking out through one of the ruined chapels toward the tower.
Clonmacnoise; Iron gating still standing.
Clonmacnoise; an interior shot of one of the buildings that was still standing at the time of our visit.
Clonmacnoise. Looking out at the grounds from one of still-standing buildings.
Clonmacnoise. Looking out at the grounds from one of still-standing buildings.
Interior picture of the remains of a chapel at Clonmacnoise.
Clonmacnoise. Just a shot down a passage between several of the buildings there.
Clonmacnoise. Another shot from inside the remains of one of the buildings there.
Clonmacnoise. The "tower" at sunset. Beautiful.
More of the grounds at Clonmacnoise, just from a different angle.
More of the grounds at Clonmacnoise, just from a different angle. (The tarped/tented structure to the left is an enclosure where site-restoration was being done at the time of our visit).
A shot of Clonmacnoise that captures a couple of the buildings that still exist.
Just to the South of Clonmacnoise, across a steep divide, you can see the remains of this ancient castle/fort.
Another view of the "fort" just below Clonmacnoise, taken right at sunset.
Another view of the "fort" just below Clonmacnoise.
The "fort" adjacent to Clonmacnoise, taken from a different aspect and at a different time of day.
Sunset on the river Shannon, as viewed from Clonmacnoise. Although the photo doesn't do it justice at all; this was perhaps one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.
Helen Williams, finally serving her penance for all of those nasty things that she used to say about her 3rd grade teacher, Sister Mary Menopause.
A beautiful rainbow over Kerry- what more needs to be said?
Helen Williams, standing in front of her grandparents' cottage. While still family-owned, most of this cottage is now uninhabitable, and what's left of it is used primarily as storage space for farming supplies (note the pallets stacked up on the right).
Walking the "back road" between Coolcummisk and Alohart. Pictured are Helen Williams and Geoff Roesch
A view from along the "back road" between Coolcummisk and Alohart.
Again- along the road between Coolcummisk and Alohart as I recall. What I can't quite recall is why my brother Geoff seems to be carrying a piece of cardboard or something similar in his right hand.
The Skellig Islands in the distance, shot from the South side of the Iveragh Peninsula.
Taken from the top of the wall at Staigue Fort. Although there were fully-accessible steps leading up to the top of this wall, I think I do remember seeing (on our way down from the wall, of course) some sign alluding to the fact that we shouldn't have been up there in the first place. Oh well... 😉
Another taken from top of the wall at Staigue Fort.
Taken from a small recess within Staigue Fort's walls, looking out at the rest of the fort's interior. As I recall, the history of the fort suggested that this recess might have been used to house grain or other supplies.
Umm, well... maybe just because the foreground said "Moo", or maybe because the background was so damned beautiful. At the time we took the shot, it was probably a mixture of both 😉
Just an awesome moonrise over Kerry that I was able to capture as we were traveling back home through the Gap.
A goat, at the front gate of a very shabby and garishly flamingo-colored cottage. For some reason, the locals here seem to find this kind of thing to be a Perfectly Normal Occurrence.
Kilburn House, viewed from the main road.
Kilburn House, viewed from the main road.
Close-up of a cross-hatched wall inside an unidentified ruin across the road from Kilburn House.
Looking out from the inside of the ruin across the road from Kilburn House.
A shot through what was probably the main entrance of the ruin across the road from Kilburn House.
Looking out of the ruin from just inside another entrance.
The remains of the main fireplace inside the ruin. To the right of the fireplace can be seen horizontal cuts in the wall, which seem to have served as anchor-points for wooden platforms that ran along that side of the structure. (Although not visible in the picture, chunks of rotted wood planking were still lodged in those cuts when I visited the site).
Old, faded writing that I found at the base of a stone that was part of one of the ruin's entrances. I have no idea what the writing says; it was totally illegible.
Old, faded writing that I found at the base of a stone that was part of one of the ruin's entrances. I have no idea what the writing says; it was totally illegible (even at this closer view).
One of the entrances to the ruin, shot taken from the outside.
Another entrance to the ruin, shot taken from the outside.
A long-shot of Kilburn House and surrounding land, taken from the main road.
The goat, again. Simply because he was still there (and was still doing whatever it is that he does there) when we passed back by the house at the end of our day's travels.
Ah, but young grasshopper... You see that my Iron-Fu way bigger than your Iron-Fu! (And you see that my Iron Board way hella uglier than your Iron Board too). So there- beat that !) 🙂