There is no shortage of beautiful images in Ireland. Far too often they’re spotted while driving in the car, with no time to capture the moment, and so it must remain a memory within, not to be shared.

But wonderful are the times when the pace is slower and we’re using our feet to get us around. And better yet is when time stands still, just long enough to capture that arty image – the one we weren’t looking for. So, to start off this set of picture postcards from Ireland, the arty shots …

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We were never too far from the water, from inland lakes and streams to rivers that flow to the ocean. This then is some of that water and the boats that sailed, then and now.

The research for my book takes me back to 1848 Ireland during the Great Famine, or as we in America call it, The Potato Famine. When I’m drawn to an area as one of the settings for the book, I search out graveyards and look at the names and dates on the gravestones, making the whole thing blend. Although some of the cemeteries adjoin churches in a good state of repair, it’s the ruins of cathedrals and friaries that take us back in time.

I imagine the number one thing that visitors to Ireland ooh and aah about are the green fields in the rolling hills. Each field is edged with stones or bounded by hedgerows, adding a symmetry to the landscape and eliciting a feeling of calmness and perfection and bringing simple beauty to the beholder. You have to be in it to feel it; no photo will create it for you … and so, no photos of the green hills here. Instead, for nature photos, we traverse the eons, from a stone circle dating from the Bronze Age, to the gardens of a stately 17th century home, to a leprechauns’ house that must be in time immemorial.

Since time immemorial, the skies have delighted the creatures here on Earth. The light played by the sun create a treasure trove of colors that leave us in awe. We saw some incredible rainbows – double rainbows, full rainbows, rainbows that touched down in the field before us – and sunsets to beat the band. It’s all scientific, but at times it seems truly magical.

May the blessings of light be upon you,
Light without and light within.
And in all your comings and goings,
May you ever have a kindly greeting
From them you meet along the road.

– Irish blessing