Tern, Tern, Tern

In the late afternoon, a certain section of Salthill beach was hosting a large, squawking committee of terns:  At at least I think they're terns - and that makes committee the correct collective noun.  A picture doesn't begin to do them justice.

The King's Head, in stunning red

Here's a philosophical question:  should the back door of the King's head still be called The Kings Head?   Or would some other anatomical feature be a better fit?

Either way, it looked pretty when I walked past the other evening, so I snapped a pic. 

And here's a close-up of the plaque, with the story.

Flower Haven

A florist shop in the main street, Oranmore, February 2018.    Pretty from the other side of the road, but probably annoying for passing pedestrians.

Pretty purple pharmaceutical hall

The purple is part of a corporate re-brand for the chain that this pharmacy has joined - but I knew I'd love the pretty shade of purple beneath the clock-tower.

(Galway, Ireland, November 2026)

Pizza for the People

The place looks so naked with Halloween decorations and colours gone and Christmas not yet out of the box:   even the neon-glass "Pizza for the people" is in plain white.    And it's rare to see it with the lights on an no long queue outside:   this is pizza for tenacious people.

Buddhist skeletons for Halloween?

An awesome-foursome of friendly skeletons decorating the Buddha Bar for Halloween 2026:  It's always interesting to mix the traditions up. 

Autumnal camouflage

Autumnal trees camouflaging the front of a housing estate.

Celtic Rest in Ennis

'Celtic Rest', an outdoor statue made from oak and limestone by artist Mary McNamara, and installed beside Clare Museum and the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland in 2004 as part of the Ennis Sculpture Initiative (E.S.I.).   Photographed Sept 2025.

Don't hang around in the pub for too long!

Spotted in Galway, Ireland just before Halloween, 2026.  

Let this lad serve as a warning what can happen if you hang around in pubs for too long. 

Kite-flying in Bettystown

 I took a quick-pic of this public-art sculpture, unimaginatively titled Flying a Kite  and known locally as Boy with Kite), surrounding parking chaos, in Bettystown Square, County Meath, Ireland in September 2007.

Almost-aptly named for Halloween- with drunken pumpkins

Gatto Rosso, meaning the red cat, is actually a pizzaria/restaurant -and a picturesque sight on Eyre Square in Galway Ireland.  But the Halloween 2026 collection of drunken pumpkins overlooking the outdoor dining area gives a great lift to the whole neighbourhood.

Harte's Pub, Gort

A pretty pub in Gort, Country Galway, Ireland,in june 2026.  Complete with very civilised outdoor seating. 

A cheerful shop in an industrial estate just GLOWS

One of those extremely quick point-and-snap pics, taken to remind myself who was there.   But the yellow light just looks so friendly and welcoming, and the photo's had some "love" on Google Maps.

(Central Bearing Supplies (CBS) Limited, Ballybane Industrial estate, Galway, photographed in December 2025.)

Galway cathedral by night: Better in black and white?

The original, unfiltered version:

I took a quick snap of Galway Cathedral one evening in late October, from Newtownsmith with Droichead an Dóchais / Salmon Weir pedestrian bridge in the foreground: The lights looked pretty and the roof was glowing nicely. Then tried a strong black-and-white filter, and rather like the result.

Liverpool Lime Street, side entrance

Another very ordinary photo which has had a surprising amount of "love" on Google Maps.

This is the side door of Lime Street railway station in Liverpool,  England  on a sunny day in July 2019.  It's an incredibly busy place, but somehow on this sunny summer day there's no one standing  outside. 

What a difference a week makes

Just a week ago I was enjoying warm sunshine, bright blue sky, flowers and flags.  Today in the same spot, its totally different, and we're already onto a storm with a name starting with "B".

Sunshine - in October!

The storm-season started a week later - but on 17 October in 2026, Eyre Square in Galway looked like this:   Sunshine with real warmth in it.   Bright summer-blue sky.   Flower pots a bit bedraggled, but still sporting bright colours.  Tribal flags still on their flagpoles.

Just keeping the memory of summer alive for as long as possible.  Because look at it just one week later!

I hold your hand in mine, dear

Halloween guests in a pub in Galway, Ireland:  Look, no hands!  Except whose is that other one?

(Not exactly a moment of beauty, but with good dash of dark humour, nonetheless.)

With apologies to American university lecturer and poet / song-writer, Tom Lehrer:

The Skeff, but not as you know it

The Skeff (longname:  The Skeffington Arms) is a city centre pub with a long shopfront painted in a dark colour (currently black).   But it's always been a hotel as well, and at some point they acquired the house next door and made a bright welcoming reception entrance, which looks very pretty in the right light.

Eyre Square Galway, Ireland in October 2026.

Sculpture from the Brutalist school?

I've never known what this sculpture outside the ATU  (previously GMIT, and RTC) in Galway, Ireland is about.   Makes me think of engineering, but I can't guess what it's depicting.  

So I took a pic in mid October 2026, hoping that Google's image-search would tell me.   So far it's suggested that it is a "brutalist sculpture" - whatever that is - and that it's a popular style.  

If you know, or can point me to a link, there's a comments box somewhere down the page.