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Roadtrip, Travel, Ireland Bjorn Thorvaldsson Roadtrip, Travel, Ireland Bjorn Thorvaldsson

Ireland

A roadtrip with an optimistic plan

To finish off my vacation, and due to a temporary frost in the relationship with my employer, I decided, on short notice, to take a trip to Ireland. I’ve been to Northern Ireland a few times, for work, but never really been to Ireland proper.

I booked a flight and a car, and accommodation one day at a time. The rough idea was to drive around Ireland and photograph the lighthouses on the coast. This turned out to be wildly optimistic, both because of the size of the island and the fact that the lighthouses are not generally accessible. I thought I could walk right up to them like in Iceland, but it turns out that they are mostly closed off to the public and therefore quite tricky or impossible to photograph. I managed a few lighthouses though, and made it around half the coast, from Dublin to the southwest tip, and then to the Cliffs of Moher.

On first visit I find Ireland to be not so spectacular to photograph, but a very comfortable place to be in. Perhaps a bit insular, like Iceland.

All the photographs are taken with a Fujifilm XE4 camera, using various lenses.

My favorite place on the trip was the area around Mizen Head. A remote place with winding, narrow roads, impressive cliffs, and beautiful seascapes. Mizen Head itself was a well organized place for tourists to visit, highly recommended.

The religious heritage is visible everywhere.

I found the Cliffs of Moher underwhelming, but nearby there’s a geographical formation/area called The Burren, which is very interesting.

Some street photography was also had, and odds and ends.

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