North Atlantic Skyline

Welcome to the Galleries page. Each of the galleries links below lead to a set of photographs of something that I think is worth visiting in the west of Ireland, with the focus on Galway, Mayo and Clare. You'll eventually see some galleries from Limerick, Sligo, Roscommon and even Leitrim, God help us. At any given time, I have about 10-15 'galleries' sitting on my hard disk, waiting to be processed, have the spiel written, and and loaded onto the site. [Update April 2006: Due to time constraints, I haven't added many galleries this year so far, though I have quite a few 'in the can'. I plan to overhaul the appearance of the galleries, but I haven't quite figured out what changes to make - I just know the current format is annoying me].

Most of the galleries are of the crumbling building variety but I plan to add more general sets of photographs (i.e. fairs, walks, etc.) as time goes on. This page will aways be a work in progress, but I usually mention on the main page when I add a new gallery. Eventually I plan is to have a map-based set of links so that you can click on a particular spot on a map of Galway, Mayo etc and see all the photos related to that spot. The first map shows sites around Lough Corrib - it's a bit rough'n'ready at the moment but I'll clean it when I have more time [Update April 2006: again, the current map is pretty crude. I have a vague idea of what i want to do with it, but it will probably be a few months before it happens].

I'm always on the lookout for the 'road less travelled', so if you know of an old ringfort, castle or indeed any old spot, particularly if it has a yarn attached, drop me a line (john 'at' monasette dot com). Some of the places I've visited have almost faded from the landscape, along with their history and origin, and if this site serves any purpose at all, it is to prolong their memory for just a little longer. I never cease to be amazed by the wonderful craftsmanship of many of the monuments that have withstood a millenium and more of travails and still stand, alone, in fields and by the edge of lakes all around the country. If I can encourage even one other person to make the same journey and to experience the same sense of wonder and awe, then I'll have done something useful.