IRELAND'S MAN MADE LANDSCAPE

Here it is, the fourth and last instalment of this Irish portfolio (click here for part 1: IRELAND: A WONDERFUL LANDSCAPE, part 2: THE WONDERS OF MEGALITHIC IRELAND and part 3: IRELAND'S HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN REMAINS.), dedicated this time to landscapes which, whether willingly or unwillingly, have been heavily modified and defined by the intervention of man. Of course, it can be argued that except perhaps for very remote locations, man always influence the landscapes around him; here, I will show how this happened either by men willingly building something or by leaving something unwillingly, wrecked and ruined, behind. I'll show you some of what seems to be millions of castles that you can see touring around the island: some have been kept and repaired and are still lived in today, most of them are in ruins (some better preserved than others), while some have unfortunately been reduced to one last-standing wall or to a mound of stones. Besides castles, lighthouses and forts, Ireland's coasts hosts (quite understandably, given its island status!) a lot of shipwrecks as well; to my eye, all these ruined buildings, wrecks and other man-made artefacts are very beautiful in their decay, perhaps more so than in their original form.

Wrecked, Ireland 2012

Take the wrecks caused by the strength of the rough northern seas, or take ships abandoned because of being of no more use, add time and weather, and you'll inevitably get crumbling, colourful, majestic landmarks, constantly changing in time. Some of them are slowly disappearing back into nature, as the wooden wreck in Bunbeg:

Bunbeg's shipwreck, Ireland 2012

Some other, being metal giants, are destined to stay a bit longer, as the Plassey:

Shipwreck, Ireland 2012

Assonances, Ireland 2012

One more wreck, this time at Rosses point:

Rosses Point, Ireland 2012

Here is Rathmelton, a beautiful old sea-channel port and village:

Rathmelton at dawn, Ireland 2012

Following the channel towards the sea, one find this wreck first:

Wreck at Rathmelton, Ireland 2012

Followed by this one, so old that the hull is all that is left of what was once a boat:

Hull, Ireland 2012

Lighthouses like this one, while neither wrecked nor ruined, are always photogenic:

Fanad Head's lighthouse, Ireland 2012

Now, let's leave the sea behind for a while and let's check out some castles!

Doonagore Castle, Ireland 2012

Inish Oirr's O'Brien's castle, Ireland 2012

Trim's Castle at dusk, Ireland 2012

Parke's Castle, Ireland 2012

In the middle of Ireland, not mentioned by guides or road signs, stands Fethard: not just a castle, a medieval walled town which stayed still enclosed by its walls, remaining pretty much as it was:

Fethard, Ireland 2012

This is Charles Fort:

Charles Fort at sunset, Ireland 2012

To end this long series of Irish photographs, what can be better than a couple of moody black & whites? First, an abandoned old mill:

Old Mill, Ireland 2012

Then, last but not least, as they say: 

Stairway to nowhere, Ireland 2012

OK, this last instalment has come to an end as well, and with it the Ireland series - I hope you enjoyed it!

Click here to see part 1: IRELAND: A WONDERFUL LANDSCAPE, part 2: THE WONDERS OF MEGALITHIC IRELAND and part 3: IRELAND'S HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN REMAINS.

Plug: if you like beautiful Fine Art Prints, printed masterfully in-house on Hahnemuhle Fine Art paper, want the security of my unique 6-POINTS WARRANTY and of my CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, look no further: artwork featuring Fine Art prints of my Ireland images are available for sale HERE!

Now for the technical stuff (click to go to the related product page): all images shown here have been shot with a Nikon D800E equipped with the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 35mm f/1.4G AF-S, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AF-S and the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF-S VR; a SB-910 Speedlight controlled via the D800E commander has been used at times as well. For support I used a Gitzo tripod equipped with an Arca Swiss Cube head; last, but certainly not least, I also used Singh-Ray filters, including a polarizer & various ND filters. Photos have been developed in Nikon Capture NX 2 and finished in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Thank you for reading this far, and stay tuned for more! Coming up next, Venice, Italy...

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