Norm’s Thursday Doors :

My doors this week come from the fabulous Muckross House in Killarney, Co. Kerry.  This is a 19th century house built on the shores of the Lakes of Killarney, with magnificent gardens and old trees.   The house was built in 1839, and extensive work was done on the house and gardens in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861 .

Muckross House, Killarney

This is the main entrance to the house, which is open to the public, and furnished in the original style – a very grand mansion, but probably not so grand for those living ‘downstairs’ and having to carry everything up two or three flights of stairs from the kitchens in the basement.

 

Muckross House, Killarney

And these are some of the doors from the back of the house – probably a storeroom.

Servant’s Entrance?

Tuesdays of Texture : Killarney

Brickeen Bridge, Killarney

On Easter Sunday we went walking in Killarney National Park, where the 3 Lakes of Killarney are to be found, and the place is surrounded by mountains, with the most beautiful scenery all around.    The bridge above is where one of the lakes flows in to the other, and everywhere you look there are the most beautiful textures and colours, with the trees, grasses, water and mountains all blending in together.

Check out some more textures over at Narami’s page

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

Behind : Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge

Are we there yet….are we….

the long climb up Cardiac Hill in Killarney, but we were rewarded with great views….eventually!

sitting by the lagoon

And we quickly hopped over to the Blue Lagoon between Malta and Gozo for a rest under the umbrellas!

Climbing Cardiac Hill

 

Jaunting cars in Muckross Park,Killarney

Killarney is a beautiful place, it has the Lakes of Killarney, Muckross House and Gardens,  and Killarney National Park, which consists of about 4 300 acres, with many wild deer roaming the hillsides.   There is also Torc Waterfall and Torc mountain, and many other attractions in the area.

One of these ‘attractions’ is Cardiac Hill, a very steep climb made of uneven stone steps, in all we counted over 3000 steps to get to the top….there is a rope barrier to hold on to, if that is any consolation, and you will probably be completing this course in silence…the exertion of climbing and breathing will not leave much room for anything else.

Are we there yet….are we….

Still, we persevered and the views at the top were worth the climb, apart from the aching legs next day, that is!

Lakes of Killarney, as seen from above.

This climb doesn’t bring you to the top of Torc Mountain, in fact I think the trek up to the top of Torc is easier than this one, as it is more spread out with gentler climbs.But that’s for another day!!

Innisfallen Island, Lakes of Killarney and Killarney town in the background

Travel Theme : Arches

Underneath the arches

This tunnel runs under the road from Torc Waterfall to Killarney National Park, so that people can move safely across  the busy narrow road, and enjoy the beautiful walks at both sides of the road.

Linked to Ailsa’s Travel Theme : Arches 

Photo101 : Day 3 – Water

Even though my star sign is Capricorn, the mountain goat, I enjoy being near water and listening to rippling streams on a lazy summer’s day, or waves crashing on the shore on a stormy day.

These are some of my favourite water photos.   The first one is a very photographed place of natural beauty here in Ireland, the Lakes of Killarney, which is a must see for visitors to this country.

A view of the Lakes of Killarney

And on the other side of the world, in Zimbabwe, no visit would be complete without a visit to Victoria Falls, and the mighty Zambezi River.   This gorge  is called the Devil’s Cataract, and the falls here only have a drop of 60 meters, as opposed to the main falls which are over 100m deep.    Even so, I wouldn’t like to go over the cliff into the ‘boiling pot’ below.

The Devil’s Cataract

A Lingering Look At Architecture : June

Dawn from The Day After has given us a challenge this month to post some architectural buildings, here are a few of mine.    Head on over to Dawn’s blog to see some more.

The English Market in Cork City

Bridge in Norway

Carry

The One Word Photo Challenge this week is to show a photo that means ‘Carry’.   Here is one I like, its a jaunting car in Killarney National Park, taking tourists through the park to admire the beautiful scenery.

Being carried along to view the scenery

Head on over to Sue’s blog to see more posts in this theme

Rhododendron – Friend or Foe?

The Rhododendron plant was first introduced to Ireland in the 1700s, from Europe and Asia, and is one of the most invasive non-indigenous plants in our parks and woodlands.   The plant has beautiful flowers, which come in a variety of colours, and can grow up to about 8 m in height, but unfortunately, the plant can be very dense, and takes over and kills any weaker plants in its path.    The National Parks in Killarney and Glengarriff (in fact all over Ireland)  are battling every year to contain this plant and prevent it from spreading.

We were walking in Glengarriff on Sunday, and saw some lovely cultivated plants in gardens, in a variety of colours.  These cultivated plants don’t cause too much of a problem, as they can be contained and not allowed to spread, but the ordinary purple type is found everywhere on hillsides and can become a real nuisance.

Here are a few shots of the blooms.

 

Quietly taking over!