Shannon Estuary Way
a virtual trek along the Shannon Estuary shoreline and hinterland
Waveprints
author: williamjokeeffe@gmail.com
shoreline in 1691 [Healy&Hickey, Irish Geography 38, Jan.2005]
Ferry Bridge (1787) carrying the N69 over the Maigue, and gateway to West Limerick photo: Kildimo Community Council
the keep, Carrigogunnell
upside-down staircase, Carrigogunnell, a result of the demolition by gunpowder in 1691
dyke ridge at Ringmoylan, looking to Woodcock Hill
moving inland: Dromore castle and lough, 2km west of Kildimo, off the N69
photo: A. O'Ciardha Shannongrove House, Ringmoylan, early 1700's (the river bank would once have lapped the lawn)
tower house ruin at Bolane, 1km west of Kildimo, off the N69
Killeen church at Cowpark, Kilcornan, just off the N69 note the unusual built-in bell cote (it allowed the bell to be rung from inside)
carved holy-water stoup and chancel window
Blue Lough, Curraghchase
YellowPool, Glenisca, Curraghchase
Winter sedge, Curraghchase
EveningProfile:Knockfierna, from the terrace at Curraghchase House
Waller's Island (above) – an eroded glacial kame, off Bushyisland dyke
Bushy Island, western profile
Bushy Island sunset
views off Bushyisland dyke
Beagh piers and the view to Slieve Bernagh
Beagh Castle, northern elevation
Beagh Castle, western elevation
beach at Ballinvoher
shingle beach, Ballinvoher
Rineanna Point, from Ballinvoher
Coney Island in the Fergus estuary, from Ballinvoher
Aughinish jetty and Beeves Rock lighthouse, from Ballinvoher Point
Ballycanauna Point at dusk, from Ballysteen Quay
deepend, Ballysteen Quay
bollardguard, Ballysteen Quay
Glenagauran shore, Ballysteen townland
Glenagauran Point: creek in foreground marks the boundary of the barony of Kenry
Desmond earldom: castle and banqueting hall at Askeaton
Askeaton: mediaeval tower at St Mary's Church
Askeaton's Hellfire Club, one of Maurice Craig's ClassicIrishHousesoftheMiddleSize(1976), a volume now itself a classic and a collector's item. The building had two-storey Venetian windows, on the north and south gables, which feature Craig praised especially. The north window survived until recent years and might have been saved or even rebuilt, had the conservation works, now apparently stalled, begun in time. The surviving fragment of the south window is visible in this photo.
cloister at the Franciscan friary, Askeaton, upstream on the Deel estuary
crossing the Deel: Toomdeely mediaeval hall
Holly Island inlet, Toomdeely West
Moreena Point, high water
Moreena Point, low water
Poulaweala inlet, Aughinish
Poulaweala Lough
Poulaweala salt pond
Foynes: Poultallin wood, Foynes Island sound
Foynes: reservoir above 'Árd an Óir'
tidal swell, Foynes Island sound
Foynes / Mount Trenchard: winter cascade on Boniska strand
Mount Trenchard burial ground, Mary Spring-Rice gravestone inscription: 'the souls of the faithful are in God's hand'
Mount Trenchard burial ground: a Vere O'Brien memorial inscription, the work of the Cork sculptor, Seamus Murphy
sunset over Mount Trenchard Point
offshore vista: Poultallin foreland to Mount Trenchard
A diversion inland: the 'Black Hag' nunnery at Oldabbey, Shanagolden
A much maligned lady, probably a religious recluse and herbalist; cailleachdhubh, in any case, is an old term in Irish for a nun.
dovecote at Oldabbey
The old boathouse, Loghill cove
Coalhill Point (Loghill)
Loghill-Kilteery: Hiphall Point
Glin and Labasheeda Bay, from Furry Wood
The splendid memorial shield of the last Knight of Glin old Church of Ireland churchyard, Glin
old hotel entrance door at Glin with cobweb fanlight and Art Nouveau relief plasterwork
grey wisteria, Glin
corbel console, Glin
from Glencloosagh Bay: Tarbert and Moneypoint power stations
Colossi
Glencloosagh Bay, looking to Ardmore Point
Glencloosagh Bay, looking to the Clare shore
Ardmore Point
limestone pavement (Waveprints), Ardmore Point
WWII relic, Ardmore Point
remains of the 'Fort Shannon' battery, Ardmore Point: one of two gun emplacements
The escutcheon of the men who oversaw its construction: 7th Field Co., Corps of Engineers
command bunker
generator bunker (one of three)
searchlight remains (one of two – see the preceding 'relic')
Pillbox: note the rusticated stone-cladding camouflage
Ardmore Point from Ballylongford Bay
Ardmore heights from Reenturk Strand on Ballylongford Bay
Reenturk Strand
Reenturk Point
Ballylongford Bay, North Kerry
Saleen Quay, Ballylongford
Carrigafoyle from Saleen
Carrigafoyle Castle from Carrig Island
Winter wetlands, Carrig Island
Poet's gate, Carrig Isle
commerating the monks slain at Kilnaughtin Abbey
Brent Geese flotilla, Carrig Island
a curious hagioscope on the western gable end a once graceful double-ogive stoup
Carrigafoyle Church (on the mainland), late 1400's
...the Shannon estuary remains a dynamic frontier between the river and the ocean, oneofourlastwildernesses
quotation (italics added) from the UCD School of Archaeology's publication: 'People, place and time on the Shannon estuary' in: Aidan O'Sullivan and others, AncientlifeontheShannonestuary, Dublin, RIA, 2001
See also on ISSUU.com Desmond Earldom and West Limerick Way
more publications on: ISSUU.com/shorecrab
Carrigafoyle Castle from the West the ruin and collapse are the result of the Elizabethan bombardment in 1580