Norm’s Thursday Doors : 16 Feb 2017

For this post, my title should be ‘where a door used to be’ as I am featuring some photos from Muckross Abbey in Killarney National Park.

The archways in the Abbey at Muckross

This abbey was a Franciscan Friary and was first established in 1448,   The present  ruins include a church with a wide, square tower and fine windows, and a vaulted cloister with an arcade of arches around a square courtyard.

In the middle of the courtyard grows an ancient yew tree, said traditionally to be as old as the Abbey.

Muckross Abbey was the burial place of local chieftains, and in the 17th and 18th centuries the three Irish poets, Geoffrey O’Donoghue, Aodhagan O’Rathaille and Eoghan Rua O’Suilleabhain were also buried here. The graveyard in the grounds surrounding the Abbey is still in use with a number of burials there each year, and in the abbey itself there are vaults of some of the priests and monks buried there.

Muckross Abbey

Linked to Norm’s Thursday Doors

Thursday Doors : 31 March 2016

I must admit I haven’t entered Norm’s Thursday Doors for a while, but I thought this old door was perfect for the challenge.   I found it on a recent visit to the old Cloyne cathedral,  which dates back to 1250, many many years old!

Here is another picture of the same door and part of the old cathedral.

One Word Photo Challenge : Bed

Final resting place

A bed is the theme of this week’s One Word photo challenge by Jennifer.     Well, a bed is a resting place, so I am showing you some very old ‘resting places’ dating back to the 1800s, we found these when we visited a very old cathedral in Cloyne, Co Cork, which itself dates back to about 1250.

Some of the ‘beds’ dating back to the 1870s, are covered in ivy.

 

 

Color Your World : Cornflower

Ancient flagstones

Yet another blue for this challenge, this time Cornflower. and I took this photo when visiting Worms in Germany.  The ancient cobblestones have grass growing between them, and they are so old that they have turned a shade of blue, almost matching my grandson’s tractor boots, while my own shoes do a good job of blending in!

Linked to Color Your World

Outdoors

I often post photos of being outdoors in the mountains when hillwalking, but here are a few different photos of the great outdoors, discovering new places and ancient monuments.

The ancient city of Ephesus

Sometimes it is hard to avoid crowds in places of great beauty and historical interest.

Crowds in Venice

But sometimes the place is so beautiful that you ignore the crowds (and the scaffolding!), and the queues to get inside.

St Marks Square, Venice

But I think I still prefer to be in the outdoors with nature.

Resting from a hike

Check out Ailsa’s page for more Outdoorsy photos.

 

A Photo A Week Challenge : Brighten up Your Day

Meet Diplodocus Longus, the world’s largest dinosaur from many millions of years ago….looking very bright and ….long in the Dubai Mall recently.

Linked to Nancy’s A Photo A Week Challenge