Ireland

Through the Arch — Dublin

There’s a place in Dublin where the medieval city quietly reveals itself.

On Cook Street, a narrow stone arch cuts through a stretch of medieval wall. It’s easy to miss — most people do — but step beneath it and the noise of the modern city seems to fall away. Ahead, worn steps rise toward St Audoen's Church, one of the oldest surviving churches in Dublin, framed perfectly by the curve of the arch.

This was once a gateway into the city — a threshold between worlds. Traders, merchants, and travellers passed through here centuries ago, entering the walled medieval town.

I photographed it from beneath the arch, letting the stone form a natural frame. The geometry does the work: the curve, the steps, the light pulling your eye upward.

It’s one of those places that feels unchanged, if you catch it at the right moment.

The Doolough Tragedy, March 1849

The Doolough Valley in County Mayo is one of the most beautiful places in the west of Ireland. A long glacial corridor between steep mountains. A dark lake on the valley floor. In Irish, Doo Lough means "Black Lake."

On the night of 30 March 1849, approximately 600 starving men, women, and children walked into that valley in darkness.

They didn't have a choice, having been told to walk 12 miles whilst hungry and tired, in cold March weather so that they might continue to receive scant provisions and avoid starvation.

Two officials from the Westport Poor Law Union had arrived in the nearby village of Louisburgh that Friday to inspect residents and determine who would continue to receive food relief — the only thing keeping most of them alive. Without carrying out the inspections, the officials left for Delphi Lodge, a private hunting retreat 12 miles south, where they planned to spend the night.

The people of Louisburgh were given an ultimatum: present yourselves at Delphi Lodge by 7am the next morning, or be struck from the relief list entirely.

So they walked. In freezing temperatures, rain, and heavy wind. Many were barefoot. Many were wearing only what they slept in. Contemporaries described them as living skeletons.

Those who made it to Delphi Lodge were told, on arrival, that the officials could not be disturbed.

They were eating lunch.

When the meeting eventually took place, the people were turned away empty-handed and told to make the journey back.

Bodies were found along the road in the days that followed. A woman named Dalton, found dead with her children beside her. Two unnamed men left unburied within a mile of home. Some of the dead were found with grass still in their mouths — their lips stained green.

The official death toll was recorded as 16 to 20. Local accounts put the true number closer to 400.

The government's response, when it came, was to dismiss the local relieving officer on a paperwork technicality. The two officials who had refused to conduct the inspection kept their jobs.

A stone cross stands near the lake today, inscribed with a single line:

"How can men feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings?"

The valley looks the same as it did in 1849, scenic and beautiful but it must have been a bleak place in that year, the years before, and after.

Well that’s it for another year, 2025 is drawing to a close as I write this and the first days of 2026 may see snow here in Ireland. 

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and thank all of you who visited Ireland this year and spent time with me on tours and learning more about photography on workshops in Dublin, Antrim, Connemara and Wicklow.

I hope to see you again in 2026 and beyond, and if you haven’t been on a tour with Panoramic Ireland I would love to see you in 2026 when you visit Ireland - whether it’s your first visit or twentieth, from Wexford to Donegal, Antrim to Dingle and all points in between.

Well, Happy Christmas from Ireland.

Christmas Day, a time of big dinners and unwrapping presents. Here in Ireland there is a popular tradition of taking to the water, the icy-cold waters of the Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean or many inland lakes and rivers.

Moydrum Castle, now in ruins having been burned in July 1921, has seen more than its fair share of controversies since as the location for U2's The Unforgettable Fire album cover which was very similar in style to Simon Marsden's black and white infrared image of the Westmeath building in the 1980s.

Ah the west of Ireland in stormy weather is scary and beautiful at the same time.

Who needs bright sunny days when the breaks between the clouds and rain give you this?

Double rainbow over the green field countryside of the west of Ireland.

October, the west of Ireland and the colour of the landscapes and the sky is so relaxing.