Wandesforde hunting party

Group from the Castlecomer and Queen's County Hunt pictured in Castlecomer Demesne

The Miner's

"The Miner's" by Kilkenny artist Eugene Conway is a large oil painting which hangs in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Castlecomer.

Kish Lighthouse- located on a sandbank about 12km east of Dublin.

Geologically, the Kish area is a small fault-bounded 'sedimentary basin' with much younger rocks than those found on nearby land areas. In recent decades, the area has been explored for possible oil and gas resources. John Eagle has made a postcard of every lighthouse on the Irish coast and they are for sale at the address below.

Copyright www.JohnEaglePhotography.com.

Lakeside scene, High summer

Lakeside scene, High summer 1997 Oil on Canvas 475 x 375 mm

© Kevin Flood

Arriving by boat for Mass on Inishbofin

Arriving by boat for Mass on Inishbofin

© Ann Hennessey

Slieve League, Co. Donegal

Slieve League, Co. Donegal has one of the tallest sea cliffs in Europe.

Courtesy of Carsten Clasohm

Malinbeg

This photograph shows the raised beaches on the Donegal coast due to changing sea levels. Raised beaches may be marked as a distinctive bench-like feature along a slope. They represent the location of a former shoreline, now above sea level, and may be associated with distinctive washed stone, shell and sand mixes that are clearly shoreline deposits. One reason for the formation of raised beaches is because, during glaciations, the land surface is depressed under the pressure of ice. When the ice retreats, it takes time for the land to readjust, so that for a while the sea may be 'higher'. Later, the land may rise out of the sea, leaving the former shoreline 'high and dry'. This is technically known as an 'isostatic' rebound. A second reason for raised beaches is that as the ice melted, sea level rose generally. This is known as a eustatic change and resulted in generally higher sea-level for some thousands of years. In Ireland these sorts of adjustments took place at the end of the Ice Age. Raised beaches were created in the northern half of the island due to the release of ice pressure. Near Malin Head, in north Donegal, a 'late Midlandian' raised beach now lies nearly 20 metres above sea level. Further south, the raised beaches (where they can be identified) become closer in height to present sea sea level. While the north readjusted and rose, either little happened in the south or else there was some slight tilt from north to south. Here, while there are signs of raised beaches from an earlier time, the sea level rises associated with the most recent melting of ice have contributed to a 'flooded' coastline where the present shoreline is clearly well above that along which the landscape developed. At places like Portmagee in west Iveragh (Co. Kerry) or along parts of the south Cork coast, there is no 'wave-cut platform' : the land just slips into the sea or below the surface of a very wide river. In the words of Professor Frank Mitchell, writing about south-west Kerry, 'if modern sea levels were to drop by 100 metres.... a dramatic archipelago would appear'.

Copyright Beautiful Monde http://www.beautifulmonde.com.

Killiney-Bray Head: A view along the cliff and beach.

The coastline at Killiney beach, Co. Dublin. The cliff is vulnerable to erosion and various efforts have been made to protect the cliff by placing a barrier at its base and by using wire netting. Nonetheless a small part near the notice board recently collapsed. The Dart railway runs close to this cliff. About one hundred years ago, when the rail line between the Shanganagh river and Shankill was threatened by the retreat of the cliff seen here in the middle distance, the rail route had to be relocated inland.

Picture Courtesy of Arnold Horner 2006.