The Festival of Bridges moves back to Ireland this morning with a glorious contribution from Ed Mooney whose blog I discovered a few months back.
Ed, more than any other blogger I am aware of, is absolutely passionate about ancient structures and ruins of Ireland, especially castles, and I feel that his work is playing a huge role in keeping the history and magic of these wonderful places alive.
He sent me a photograph of a bridge at Leighlinbridge in Co. Carlow, little knowing that lovely Leighlinbridge has been the ‘midway’ stopping point in our family for years and years as we journeyed to and from Dublin. His hauntingly beautiful photograph brought me back to all the phone calls, in happy, sad, and ordinary times, made from Leighlinbridge that raised the collective spirit of the family as they were about ‘coming home.’
Here’s what Ed wrote about the photogrpagh:
I shot this a number of months ago down in Leighlinbridge. Initially my eye had been drawn to the Castle as I just love these old ruins. Sadly I was unable to gain access as it is on private property. So I went looking for images that I could get. After moving across the Barrow I knew I had to include the bridge and Castle in a shot as one would not have existed without the other.
The bridge was an important crossing point and a castle has stood here since 1181 to protect it. The current nine arch Valerian bridge was built in 1320 by Maurice Jakis, a Canon of Kildare Cathedral.
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The Festival of Bridges runs until October 31st. Submissions are now closed.
Great Piece Jean, and a what a fantastic idea. Looking forward to seeing more 🙂
Thanks to YOU, Ed. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you. Here’s to further collaboration!
Looking forward to it Jean 🙂
Great stuff!
Oh! This is a wonderful photo , it captures NP only the view but the mystical and history of the place. Ed Mooney s certainly has a way with photos .
He’s a special talent; no doubt about that!
O have now visited his wonderful blog thanks to you 🙂 xx
Great! I think it’s very YOU.
Moody monochrome, love it. Another spot I’ve never been to – I must get back to Ireland soon. And I’m now following Ed’s blog with great interest.
Hi Roy, I thought you’d LOVE Ed’s blog and it’s definitely time you came back ‘home.’
How beautiful – I love the clouds too, they really serve to set the mood!
Sandy, thanks for writing. Yes, the clouds are great, aren’t they?
Jean, Eddie is not only good at his photography work, but also does an excellent job on his research. He did a post on my blog a little over month ago, it was a fantastic article and very well received.
Yes, I’ve been so impressed with his research as well as his photography. It’s unusual to find the two combined so well. I look forward to reading his contribution to your blog.
It was during the time he was putting his post together I found out that my roots may actually be Irish.
Beautiful, atmospheric photo.
Couldn’t agree more, Andrea.