GRATTAN HILL AND OTHER AREAS [MONTENOTTY & ST. LUKE’S AREA OF CORK]

On one of my days in Cork it rained so much that at times it was almost impossible to take any photographs. I decided to visit St. Luke’s Wine Tavern and stayed until about 10pm but by the time that I had returned to my hotel room there was a slight break in the weather so I decided to put on my rain gear and wander around the Montenotty area and photograph anything that might be of interest.For various reasons I decide to use my 15mm Voightlander but unfortunately while fitting I managed to introduce some very large dust particles that proved impossible to remove until I returned to Dublin.

Because it was dark and as it was raining and because of the dust problem my photographs turned out to suffer noise and this impacted on the quality of the images.

Montenotte is an area in the north-east of Cork City, Ireland, which had an influx of wealthier merchants and a prosperous middle classes in the early to mid-19th century. Situated on a hill facing south over the River Lee, Montenotte acquired numerous substantial residences, some of them set in miniature estates graced with fine terraced gardens. Its favourable outlook was downgraded by the development of large-scale industry in the Marina area across the river in the early 20th century. Many of the larger houses now have institutional uses, or have been divided into apartments.

Some people would describe the area as ‘run down” or past its best but I must admit that I like the area. Saint Luke is considered the patron saint of painters which is somewhat appropriate as there is an artistic or boho feel to the area.

Wellington Terrace is a short cul de sac dog-leg row at the start of straggling, sandstone ridge-clinging Grattan Hill, beloved of Thackery who wrote lovingly two centuries ago about the vista, aspect, river views and genteel shabbiness and local gayety. All of which it still enjoys, by the way.

ONLY A FEW WEEKS TO HALLOWEEN [PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE BOTANIC GARDENS IN DUBLIN]

My American friends ask me this time ever year if we celebrate Halloween in Ireland and this never ceases to surprise me. The story is a bit complicated as Halloween is a Celtic festival that was exported to the US and then re-imported in a much modified [more commercial] form back to Ireland and the UK. When I was young, back in the 1950s, Halloween was not really celebrated outside a religious context [which removed much of the fun] but this changed over a period of about twenty years and there is now no real difference between Halloween in the US and Halloween here in Ireland.

Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots. Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".

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