Glenina Clubhouse in the sunshine

I was killing time in the sunshine and spotted this picturesque-from-a-distance historic building which looked more interesting than the housing estates around it.  Reverse image search returned some entertaining but very wrong suggestions, like Athy Railway Station.  However a bit searching les to an internet page which calls it the old, very old clubrooms at Glenina that has  "a preservation order which has caused headaches to Galwegian [rugby club] administrators, planners and dreamers ever since [1963]"   

At first I thought I was a converted large family home which would have a name and a web-page somewhere describing it.   But on closer inspection, it's just not right for a historic home.  My guess is that it was probably built as a rugby clubrooms, and complete with lots of behind the scenes dressing rooms and the like.

Galway, Ireland, October 2026.

Golden Hour in Galway Bay

I loved the sheer intensity of sunshine as the setting sun sank behind Silvertrand.

Google Photos calls it the "golden hour", but really the deep, warm colour palatte passed within about 10-15 minutes.

Salthill Beach, Galway, Ireland in October 2026. 

Whole-of-building ugliness

Normally I look for moments of fleeting beauty in the built environment.  But today my eye was caught by just how drab and ugly this building is above street level:  the bank and solicitors' entrance at street level aren't expecially pretty but are at least what you expect. But the three floors above have brick with wood panelled mini-balconys that are quite different from anything else in the neighbourhood giving a very tired, old-skool brown vibe.
 

(October 2026, Galway city-centre, Ireland.)

Taking daylight robbery to its logical conclusion

There's a story which tour guides love to tell about the origin of the phrase "daylight robbery".  In short, a government, somewhere, introduced a tax on sunlight, and used number of windows in a house as the measurement proxy.   So of course canny citizens fought back and realised that by removing more windows they could pay less tax.   Arguably that's what happened to this building in the centre of Galway city.   

Galway/ Ireland in June 2026.

Taking a squiz at Woozza

 

This takeaway pizza shop doesn't exactly count as a moment of fleeting beauty, but the lights in their new shopfront, which used to be the print-shop next door, were eye-catching.   And I thought this would be a photo that Google Maps would like, since it's not often that there are no cars parked outside.

Galway, Ireland, October 2026

St Nicholas', veiled

 

This is more a moment of irony, and a promise of beauty to come, than a fleeting moment of beauty in the built environment!

St Nicholas Collegiate Church in Galway, Ireland is having some restoration work done to the side entrance - the one which most people use.   The entire wall a veiled  (to keep the rain out, never mind the curious eyes), but at ground level there are some rather cute panels showing imitation and doors.   The only cheerful thing is the three kegs and to traffic cones hiding under the canopy. 

But as always, the clock tower soaring above and keeping a sharp eye on everything that's going on.

September 2026.

Exploring in Galway Docks

 

The Celtic Explorer (a ship used by the Marine Institute for research trips), docked in Galway Harbour, July 2017.  This photo was taken from on-board another large ship which was open for public visits, and parked on the other side of the dock.