The 'Garda' post............. you used to see them all over the place, then we went through a phase (may still be going through it!) where there wasn't a garda in the smaller towns at night, only 9-5 daytime! Anyway, I don't notice these posts very often these days - and this one, it was outside a building which I think was a pre-fab down in Tipperary

and then this house - it's on the road to Drum in County Tipperary, except I can't remember where I was coming from to get to Drum!! Somewhere else in Tipperary I suppose.

This would actually have been a decent sized house when you think of it, probably a 2nd Class house by the 1901 & 1911 census standards - it has four windows, probably three rooms inside and the roof was thatched.

The old houses always make me stop to think about who lived in them and where they went to - did they just go up the road to a new house or emigrate. This one though, it's right beside the school house in Bilboa, Co. Carlow so I think it was probably the School Masters House. Lots of times the Master or Mistress (usually Master) lived in a house right beside the school and this one looks as though it could be the right age. Pity to see it deserted now though and if this was a house in the city, there's be someone living in it.

I've got more photographs of the area on my web site at http://www.from-ireland.net/car/places/bilboa/index.htm and I will be putting the photographs of gravestones from the Church which is just up the road a bit from the school on line as soon as I get them indexed.

Pretty, isn't it? This is a shot taken from the bridge over the canal at Vicarstown Co. Laois (also known to some as Queen's County. Vicarstown is very close to County Kildare, and it's not big really - just a few houses and a pub on the edge of the canal with another one of the bridges I like so much over the canal. I think these barges would be for rent to people who want to take a little cruise along the canal during the summer months.
I remember as a child watching barges go through the various locks on a canal in County Kildare, it used to be such fun to watch. This whole area is lovely, the bridge is one of the twisty little ones, it's almost, but not quite the 'humpty' back bridge type that we'd love to drive over as children - you'd get bumped in the car. There are lovely walks along the canal here, and I think it's part of the Laois Heritgae area, if it's not, then it should be!

Limerick City Buildings

When I was down in Limerick in November 2006, I went walkabout with my camera - I've mentioned that alerady! Anyway, the result was a few photos. Half the time I didn't know what street I was on and sometimes I did notice signs and things.

So, I've uploaded photographs of buildings which I took that day to Picassa. This time I've posted comments with the photos for whatever I can remember of the reasons I may have taken the photo other than it being a building of note.

Limerick Buildings

I'm not too sure what size this image will appear as but I hope it's big enough for you to make out some details. It looks to all intents and purposes like a bush which has had rubbish or rags blown up onto it in the wind - some as they drove past might even wonder at how people couldn't be bothered to clean it up!

This is not rubbish stuck to a bush though, it's actually a very sacred place to many people. The bush, the well, the 'rags', they mean hope to those who tie deliberately tie these rags to that bush over this well. It's a 'Wishing Well' in a manner of speaking, it's not a 'fairy' well - it is a well dedicated to St. Kieran I think, or else since Bridget. I'm not sure which as I was told that the wells with these trees are dedicated to St. Bridget by one older person, but there is another in Seikieran which was the original seat of the Diocese of Ossory and St. Kieran in County Offaly and it is called St. Kieran's well over there.

This particular well is located in County Laois, on the Kilkenny Laois border close to Dysart Wooden bridge.

I'd never seen one of these in my whole life, even though I have read of them. I've actually driven past this one before and never noticed it - this time though I had missed the turn off I wanted to take which is just before this bush. Right across the road from it there is another little road and as I turned into that road to go back I did actually register the 'dirty' looking bush - but then, as I turned the car and faced onto the road again I realised what I was looking at.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I really thought that this wasn't done any more. Anyway, I did take a few photographs of the bush and the well, I'm only putting this one up for now. It's funny how things always happen together, it was only two weeks later that I saw the second bush in Offaly, there was no time to photograph that one though, so I'd like to create an album with different bushes from different parts of the country.

Limerick City, Corbally area

Back when I was down in Limerick last November, I went walkabout with my camera and took a few photos - quite a few! Since then, I've been wondering how to deal with them - they took too long to upload to my Yahoo blog, besides which I never managed to work out how to identify that blog - the URL for it

So, enter Picasa to which photos load quicker. I've divided the photos into a few folders with bridges, buildings and Corbally. Someone on Y-IRL once asked about Corbally in Limerick- they thought it was a street, well, there is a Corbally road also known by another name and then after that Corbally itself is partly a built up area. I didn't take photos of the houses, just the roundabouts, the bridge and a sign post!

The roundabouts - well, in Ireland and England we have roundabouts all over the place, but people from other countries comment on them quite often. They're easy to use once you get the hang of them, rush hour traffic is probably the worst time of the day to be trying to get on to a roundabout. one of these roundabouts is nice and small, a handy little one set at a point where a few roads from different groups of houses in the Corbally area come together. The second is bigger, out on the main road and unfortunately a few cars got in the way of my photo!

These photos are on Picassa - and so long as I have done this right, then the image link below should bring you to them.
Jane

Corbally Limerick