Heritage Open Day, Cork – 23/8/14

Posted on 27/08/2014 by admin

Cork City Hall from the balcony of the Clarion Hotel's Penthouse Suite, Lapps Quay.

Cork Heritage Open Day is a unique event, which is held on the first Saturday of Heritage Week. This year it was on Saturday the 23rd of August.

For one day only, nearly 40 buildings opened their doors free of charge for this special event. Members of the public were allowed a glimpse of some of Cork's most fascinating buildings ranging from the Medieval to the Military, the Civic to the Commercial and the Educational to the Ecclesiastical.

In the slideshow below are some images from St. Anne's Church, Shandon, The Clarion Hotel Penthouse Suite, Lapps Quay, The Masonic Hall, Tuckey St, St. Finbarre's Cathedral, Bishop St., Elizabeth Fort, Barrack St. and a few random others from around the city.

Many thanks to Cork City Council and the owners of the various buildings.

Mouse over the image below to activate the slideshow. Enjoy!

Body Painting in Dungarvan – 16/8/14

Posted on 21/08/2014 by admin

Artist: Maria Cribben. Model: Natasha Everitt Hairdresser: Marina Hayes

We arrived to the Bank Studios in Dungarvan at 3pm on Saturday 16th what turned out to be such a fun day. When we arrived the extremely talented artists were putting their finishing touches to their work on their models. They each had very individual themes with great attention to detail in their chosen theme.

The atmosphere was very busy, but with a great air of fun about. Every person involved was in great spirit, and extremely welcoming of us to their event. We set about capturing images very casually as various models were ready on various floors within the building. I have to give full compliments to the models for being so open, co-operative and taking direction so well as they were doing this for fun and are not professional models.

After a little while of shooting, it was time, the big moment where they would dispand on to the Quays of Dungarvan. This was completely unexpected by the public and boy did they get a jaw dropping reaction! It was hilarious, cars were braking and didn’t know whether they should stop or go. The facial expressions witnessed were priceless. All the models then lined up for a few group outdoor shots, and a bit of banter and it was time to head back in.

Their mission had been accomplished! Many thanks to everybody involved in making it a very fun day.

- Fidelma Read

Mouse over the image below to activate the slideshow. Enjoy!.

See full post here.

Cobh Regatta – 17/8/14

Posted on 18/08/2014 by admin

James Brady-2

The annual Cobh Regatta was our destination on Sunday night, 17/8/14. The fireworks, in particular, were our interest and so we gathered at Whitepoint, hoping to get a good angle on the display.

As the minutes dwindled down towards 10pm, we finalised settings and waited. Then, without warning, the first rockets burst in the inky sky opposite the town centre and it was down to business. The next ten minutes or so was a cacophony accompanied by brilliant colour and graphic shapes with each burst greeted with approving cheers from the town where a large crowd had gathered.

Then it finished as it had started and the harbour was suddenly returned to normal. Another Cobh Regatta fireworks display over for another year. As car loads of families headed for home, we broke down our gear and did likewise, just ahead of an ever rising tide, with hopes that slices of the night's excitement were captured successfully within our cameras.

Excitement for kids, excitement for adults! Well done Cobh.

Mouse over the image below to activate the slideshow controls. Enjoy!

The Jameson Experience, Midleton – 9/8/14

Posted on 11/08/2014 by admin

Denis Barry-3

"Far away fields are greener" is an old phrase that describes the human condition of thinking that other places are better than where you are or, that your lot would be better if only you were somewhere else or had something different. It's an interesting condition that plays out more regularly than we might think whether on a conscious or sub-conscious level, causing us to ignore what's on our doorsteps in pursuit of 'something better' that, often times, just does not exist.

Denis Barry-1 We, in East Cork Camera Group, are as guilty as any other in this department as we criss-cross the county, the province and indeed the country in pursuit of that elusive image which might reside just over the next hill. Well did we get a lesson on the old phrase on Saturday 9/8/14 when we visited The Jameson Experience, right on our doorstep in the middle of the town of Midleton.

The Jameson Experience, Midleton is a visitor centre housed in, what was, an actual working distillery that closed in 1975 after 150 years of producing Irish Whiskey, when production moved to the adjoining state-of-the-art facility. Because it is the real thing with real buildings, a giant, working water wheel, the largest copper pot still in the world and extremely knowledgeable guides, the centre practically envelops the visitor in the full whiskey making process from the delivery of the barley on site to the long-term maturation and consumption of the final product.

Denis Barry-4 Our guide for the visit was Tour Guide Supervisor, Ursula Barry, who wears her passion for the centre on her sleeve, has an extensive knowledge of the site's history and the whiskey making process and, luckily for us, also has endless patience with lingering photographers trying to exhaust all the angles in every square foot!

As we made our way through the old buildings, we became familiar with processes such as fermentation, mashing, triple distillation and maturation while the origin of the oak casks and the intricacy of the cooper's trade were fully explained. We learned that the substantial loss of maturing whiskey through natural evaporation is known as 'The Angels' Share' and we also learned that, unlike most beverages, all Jameson whiskeys sold around the world, are manufactured in Midleton. Now that's a claim to fame, right there!

Finbarr OShea-10 Since being divested of its whiskey making duties in the mid seventies, the site has been primarily used as a visitor centre although it does have one working warehouse, Warehouse A1. This houses around 1,000 casks of whiskey manufactured in the adjoining distillery. The casks will remain in situ to mature for the next twenty years - that's 2034 - before being bottled for consumption. This is where 'The Angels' Share' story really comes to life as, on opening the doors to the building, the concentrated presence of whiskey vapour in the air is, at once, almost tangible and invades the senses completely, evidencing the special, long-term process that is at hand in the darkness behind the oak.

The site of The Jameson Experience also houses the Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard Irish Whiskey Academy and the Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard Archive, making Midleton, not alone the center of whiskey making in the country, but also the largest and most complete repository of information regarding whiskey making and the centre of
education for everyone in the whiskey business from manufacturing to sales as well as the many connoisseurs and whiskey collectors around the globe. All in all, a Centre of Excellence for all things whiskey-related.

Denis Barry-9 As Ursula pointed out, whiskey making has been and continues to be really important to the enconomy of the town of Midleton and the surrounding areas; indeed, one of the distillery's premium products, 'Midleton Very Rare', carries the towns name into all corners of the globe, a matter of great pride to the locals especially when a bottle is spotted on a shelf by an expat far from home.

The visitor centre then, is the perfect companion for the adjoining ultra-modern distillery and the foresight of those who decided to open it as such was indeed inspired as, upwards of one hundred and twenty thousand visitors, from all over the world, now do the tour there every year while many more just call to enjoy the restaurant facilities in the unique surroundings.

Denis Barry-12

As we finished our tour with the traditional tasting, we were all in agreement that Jameson was the winner from the three samples provided and that ECCG was definitely the winner in our photographic tour of the facility. Our thanks to the management and staff of The Jameson Experience and especially to our tour guide, Ursula, who really brought the tour to life.

As for the old phrase, well whether you're from the Midleton area or not, the fields are definitely greener here so get yourself here and be sure to pay a visit to The Jameson Experience.