Ireland in October

N

Novembersierra

Venice, ITA
Local time
11:17 PM
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
38
Hi all,
I'm flying to Ireland in a week, I'll land in Dublin and then travel across the country to visit the best places, still deciding (It's a sort of last minute decision) any suggestions?
My main camera will be a 2.8 Rollei for serious shooting and a samsung s4 for digital snapshots (heresy!). I've got already a general purpose Portra 400, should I get more colour? b/w?

Many thanks
 
I guess you mean a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone - I would bring something slightly better if you want to bring home some decent pictures. Smartphones are nice in good weather, but now it is fall, no nice weather on the British Isles.... and that is including Ireland.

If you bring just one real camera, 400 iso Porta should be oké. Stick with one film to keep things easy.
 
The Aran islands are fantastic : prehistoric cliff to forts, walled fields etc.
Further south Skellig Michael is an island with a monastery perched high above the cliffs in the mist.
 
High cross cemeteries and castles in every state of decay/splendour are everywhere in Ireland. Didn't have to travel far or make a destination for these. I found the east side of the country to be more interesting (although Dublin is NOT to be missed). Unfortunately I didn't make it to the south (e.g., Cork) but it was on the agenda.
Cliffs of Mohr would be best during off-season (like now), but during peak season its more people than I've ever seen gathered in one place in that lovely country. Well, the football match had a lot of people, but that was Dublin.
I second the Dingle suggestion. Very much. I remember visiting various megalithic sites too and really liking those. Poulonbrone is one that cooperated well for me....it was raining and the few busloads of tourists stayed on the bus for the most part. People-free shots! With a rainbow in the background no less. I should post these things....

Ireland was one of my favorite places to travel. Not the cheapest, but well worth it. You will enjoy it. I only met nice people (Irish people that is, I met some less than stellar visitors). Be prepared to drink Guinness -- lots of it.
 
Um, I meant the west side of the country in my last post. Sorry, haven't had enough morning coffee.
 
been there with my wife this month. so many places to recommend...

my favourite county: Donegal!

14092104_web_zpsd2a1651d.jpg


slieve league.

and the Cliffs of Moher...

14092701_b_zps25dab849.jpg
 
Much of my family comes from Donegal, its a big wild county but if you haven't been to Ireland before I would keep it simple and head from Dublin due west to either Galway or Cork and explore the areas around there. Drink plenty of Guiness and hearty food every night you will have a great time.

Don't be afraid to hire a car and drive around, the roads have improved dramatically over the years to the point that it is vastly more enjoyable driving around Ireland now than it is just about anywhere in England.

All of recent the pictures here on my flickr stream are from a few days long short trip for a family reunion, I still have all the B&W to add yet;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/114162568@N06/
 
Thanks everybody, we've planned to get to Galway the morning after we land in Dublin, and in the next days explore the Connemara, take a ferry to the biggest of the Aran islands, then down to Doolin and the cliffs of Moher, as you suggested.

Depending on how much time we got left (7 nights in total..) we could then head south.. then back to Dublin with stops at Kilkenny perhaps?
Problem is we'll be using public transport, as major car hiring agencies require a personal credit card which us youngsters (college students) still don't have, at least it was like this when we checked.

Sounds good?

Can't wait, I stocked a couple of HP5+ and another Portra 400 should the need arise.

Thanks
 
Connemara, the Arans and the Burren could all too easily take up your 7 days. The Cliffs of Moher are spectacular too, but you should really try to get down to the ring of Kerry and if at all possible visit the Skelligs. The real problem that you will have is tearing yourself away from one area to move on to another. Ireland's west coast is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful areas that you can visit (I dive too and it also offers some utterly fantastic scuba diving) and with its rapidly varying Atlantic weather is forever changing and can offer spectacular light. One word of advice - take a dry bag to put equipment in just in case it rains:eek:.
 
You can rent a car from Dooley Car Rental with a debit card. You just have to accept all insurance and prepay. I rent with them for 30 days a year and, like all Republic of Ireland rentals, it's expensive but still the best way to see the country.

If you're at the Cliffs, which I don't recommend as it's a three ring circus, try to get to St. Brigid's Well. It's a great holy site and just a few miles south of the Cliffs.

Also, the Ring of Beara is the best of all the Rings if you can get down into Kerry and Cork. Kenmare is a great little town for exploring Beara.
 
Wise words, I took a mixture of B&W and velvia for the greens and blues for the times when the sun is out. For clothing I have a gortex heavy duty coat with vent zips under the arms for when its warm, even in the first week in July in a mini heat wave I got wet a few times, Ireland is like that you can get 3 seasons of weather all in one day. I think you can see that in my pictures, the weather and light varied dramatically over that week.
 
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