Jean Reinhardt's Blog, page 13
December 31, 2019
Goodbye 2019
In 2019, as I traveled through Ireland in search of Thursday Doors, the scenery always captivated me. I want to thank all the visitors to my blog throughout the year for taking the time to stop by and share these journeys with me. This video is a short compilation of some of my favourite scenic photographs from various parts of the country. Goodbye 2019, I’m looking forward to lots more Thursday Doors hunting in 2020.
December 26, 2019
Thursday Doors – Old and New
There are some interesting buildings and walls in my street so I thought they would make good subjects for my last Thursday Doors of the year.
[image error]New building – old wall.
[image error]New wall – old building.
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[image error]Old wall – newish wall.
I hope you are all hale and hearty, wherever you are this week. Thanks so much for all your visits to this blog over the past year and I hope to see you again soon for lots more Thursday Doors in 2020.
December 19, 2019
Thursday Doors
If you’ve seen last week’s Thursday Doors you’ll know it featured the doors of Dundalk in County Louth. As we drove through the town I managed to snap a few more shots from the car. The colours in this first one is how it looked at the time and there were no festive lights on, as it was daytime – just nature’s wonderful display.
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The sandstone entrance to the grounds of St. Patrick’s Church (also known as a pro cathedral) is almost as impressive as the building itself. It’s wall and arches are much more weathered than the church, giving it an older appearance.
A pro–cathedral is a parish church that is temporarily serving as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese or has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction that is not yet entitled to a proper cathedral, such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic administration. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Thomas Duff was the architect who chose the Gothic design. The church dates from 1837 but was extensively renovated in 1894. Building came to a halt during the years of the Great Hunger and was resumed in 1860. The adjoining tower was added in 1903.
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Just in front of the cathedral stands a monument. The main plaque is inscribed “In memory of Captain James Joseph Kelly, Gerald Hughes, James Crosby and James Murphy who lost their lives in a noble and humane effort to rescue the crew of the Barque Mary Stoddard wrecked in Dundalk on the 9th April 1858.”
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Catherine Mcgrother, the twelve year old daughter of a local fisherman, witnessed the tragic events from the shores of Blackrock, as so many tried to rescue the remaining crew of the stricken vessel during a raging storm that lasted five bitter cold days. She was my great great grandmother and on her 100th birthday, she recited a poem someone had written about the tragedy. Along with the four volunteer rescuers who perished, nine of the ship’s crew lost their lives in that storm.
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Most of the buildings in the town are very well maintained with lots of period features still intact. Many business premises have also kept up a traditional appearance, even if they have unusual names.
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I love the shutters on this one and it has two red doors.
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As we finished our drive through the town the colourful sky continued to draw my eye. Reflected in the car’s side mirror are some of the doors I missed because of it.
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However, here’s one that didn’t escape my notice.
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I hope you enjoyed this historical tour of Dundalk this week, thanks for your company. Norm has links to lots more Thursday Doors over on his blog.
December 12, 2019
Thursday Doors – Dundalk
Ireland’s capitol city, Dublin, has a reputation for having colourful doors but this week’s Thursday Doors will show that there are other places with a fine selection on offer.
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They might not be as grand as Dublin doors but the portals of Dundalk in county Louth are just as interesting. Many of them are separated by archways that enabled coaches to access stables at the rear of the properties, back in the old days.
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Thanks for stopping by this week. For a great selection of international Thursday Doors have a look at the links on the comments of Norm’s ‘door’ post.
December 4, 2019
Thursday Doors – from the car
For this week’s Thursday Doors I’m sharing some shots I took from the car on a couple of road trips recently. The first one even has a silhouette of me taking the photo as we drove by a neat little cottage.
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I just managed to capture this as we sped by (within the speed limit, of course). Although it’s a bit blurred, I couldn’t bring myself to delete it. Red car, red roof and red door.
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You can see from the stone wall that Mr. R. didn’t slow down for this one either.
[image error]Tree Line
[image error]Scattered Sheep
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This last one is of my maternal grandparents first home, which they rented for a while just after they were married almost a hundred years ago.
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Thanks for stopping by. This Thursday Doors post is part of a weekly series hosted by Norman Frampton and if you check out his blog you’ll find lots more doors from around the globe.
November 28, 2019
Thursday Doors – B is for …
I’ve noticed that many of my Thursday Doors posts are of places that begin with the letter B – Belturbet, Blackrock, Ballycastle, Ballyconnell, to name a few off the top of my head. In the Irish language, Baile can mean a town, place or field and Beal is mouth, as of a river. This might explain why so many towns and villages in Ireland begin with the letter B. However, Blackrock is the English literal translation for the village I come from. In Irish it’s called Na Creagacha Dubha. Dubh means black in Irish and the name refers to the colour of the sedimentary shale rocks that dot the coastline in the area.
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It might be a small place but Blackrock has quite a few names for its various sections of coastline, like The Priests’ Beach in this image and next to it you’ll find Ladies’ Beach. There’d be no shananigans going on with that set-up but I’m not sure who benefitted the most. Of course, nowadays the beaches are open to all but the old names still stick.
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Blackrock has some lovely colourful doors, as you can see from the above photo. It also has unusual business names, like this one.
[image error]Even the food in Blackrock is ‘healthy’
There are often unusual vehicles to be seen parked up by the beach.
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My mother used to paint for a hobby, as did both of her parents. Her father painted a watercolour scene of Blackrock main street back in the early 1900’s and she copied it in acrylics.
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Then she decided to paint one of the main street as it is nowadays.
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Sorry about the reflections but you get the picture, so to speak. Thanks for stopping by this week and for lots more Thursday Doors, have a look at the links on Norm’s blog.
November 21, 2019
Thursday Doors – More from Ballyconnell
Still in Ballyconnell for this week’s Thursday Doors and it wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t a boat or two in the picture. There are always some lovely vessels moored along the Woodford canal, which runs through the town.
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As usual, I was taking my time snapping photos left, right and centre. The Gaffer abandoned me in favour of a faster pace with Mr. R.
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I can’t blame him, really. Doors aren’t exactly the type of prey he had in mind when I mentioned a hunt.
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Even the public toilet block was worth including.
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Thanks for taking another tour of Ballyconnell with us this week. For some amazing Thursday Doors, carry on over to Norm’s blog and check the links in the comments at the end of his post.
November 14, 2019
Thursday Doors – Ballyconnell
‘I thought we came to Ballyconnell on a hunt for Thursday Doors,’ said The Gaffer, who doesn’t like water – unless he’s drinking it.
‘We did,’ I replied. ‘But look at that lovely weir.’
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Lovely as it was, The Gaffer gave me a look that said he wasn’t impressed and pulled me further along the path, until we found something that might lead to a door.
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It was an old archway on private property and on the other side of the river, so we wouldn’t be looking for doors in that direction.
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The doors are well hidden by foliage in this image, too. The Gaffer dragged me further along the path, which skirted a park and children’s playground, until we came to a nice little cottage with a more visible door.
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For such a pretty building it has an unattractive main entrance. I much prefer the side door, what I can see of it.
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Always one to throw himself into the job at hand, The Gaffer only stopped long enough for me to capture a couple of shots before moving on to the next leg of the journey. Leg is a very appropriate word to use here because he lifted his so many times putting his scent on this new trail – just in case I should suffer a sudden attack of amnesia or blindness before we found our way back to the car.
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‘Lovely stone wall,’ I said to The Gaffer.
‘Nice lamp post,’ he replied.
I noticed his leg begin to twitch at the sight of it and hurried along to the next street.
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‘Lunch,’ said The Gaffer, eyeing the ducks.
‘You swim over and grab one and I’ll check out Sophia’s Ristorante,’ I was beginning to feel peckish, myself.
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The Gaffer was not impressed. Did I mention he hates water? We spotted a cute little bicycle behind those railings and just had to have a closer look. Bikes are another one of The Gaffer’s pet hates but this one didn’t look too threathening.
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‘How do you stop a dog from following you on a bike?’ asked The Gaffer.
‘Shout at him?’ I guessed.
‘Take the bike from him.’ He has a weird sense of humour.
He’ll never make it as a stand-up comedian. However, if I can train him to use the camera I could send him off on cold wet days to hunt down some Thursday Doors for me, while I sit by our cosy stove. Then again, he’d refuse to go – he hates getting wet. Sigh.
Thanks so much for joining us in Ballyconnell for this week’s Thursday Doors, if you continue on over to Norm’s blog you’ll find lots more waiting for you.
November 6, 2019
Thursday Doors – Fake
It was the autumn colours that initially caught my eye as the car came to a halt in traffic, on a recent road trip. After snapping a shot of those lovely copper and gold coloured leaves I thought there was something unusual about the house in the background. Fake windows and door. Further along the street there was another one.
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Would you have known they were fake if I hadn’t told you? I’m sure there are some ‘real’ Thursday Doors over on Norm’s blog, have a look at the links in the comments at the end of his post.
October 31, 2019
Thursday Doors – Belturbet by Night
This week’s Thursday Doors comes from Belturbet in county Cavan and features some shots taken late in the evening, without using flash. They turned out better than expected. This first one is of the main street with the town hall at the top.
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There has been a lot of work done recently on this lovely old house and even the post office next door has had a bit of a make-over. It’s so nice to see these old buildings being preserved, I wonder what it will be used for – business or residential.
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On my way to the river I took a photo of this derelict house. It now forms part of a walled garden but I’m glad that whoever owns the property kept the facade intact.
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One of my favourite wee boats was moored at the marina. If you look closely, you might just make out a ‘living’ grass roof on it and a stovepipe. Next time I see it in daylight, I’ll take a clearer shot.
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The sun was setting fast but I was determined not to use flash for my images so there was just enough light for one more shot. This next one is of the park, alongside the marina.
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As always, thanks a mil for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this walk around Belturbet by night and if you’d like to continue on a tour of international Thursday Doors, you’ll find links to them in the comments over on Norm’s Blog.
