Ireland

St Peter and Paul's Church dominates the view of the main road bridge over the Shannon at Athlone.

Lough Neagh sand suction dredger barges Ballyronan and Toomebridge at Northstone's Sandy Bay wharf. These are two of eight identical vessels built by James W Cook Ltd of Wivenhoe, Essex, between 1968 and 1974 for Scotts of Toomebridge. They are 120’ 6" long by 19’ 3" beam and all loaded and discharged by pump. They were built at the largest size for the locks on the Lower Bann which gives access to the lake from the sea. The sand trade on Lough Neagh continues to occupy several companies and a large number of barges in dredging around 1 million tonnes of sand annually.

This kiln at Reddan's Quay, Tuamgraney, was built in 1913 to provide lime for the Raheen Estate and local farmers. It operated until the 1950s.

This kiln at Reddan's Quay, Tuamgraney, was built in 1913 to provide lime for the Raheen Estate and local farmers. It operated until the 1950s.

The margins of Carnadoe Lough glow gold against a dark and stormy sky as the reeds catch the morning sun.

The Lough Allen Brickworks at Spencer Harbour on Lough Allen was established in the early nineteenth century and operated until the 1920s. Today all that remains are a number of derelict cottages and timber loading jetties with a single chimney. The works was supplied with coal from the nearby Arigna mines and bricks were shipped out across the lock and then the Lough Allen Canal to the Shannon. An example of the bricks produced at this works can be seen here .

The big skies to be seen around the Irish boglands were particularly dramatic as I was travelling east on the Grand Canal not far from Shannon Harbour.

A warning to the locals that tourism is a necessary evil in Leitrim and that no action should be taken that might reduce the profits to be made from it.

Trackbed of the 3ft gauge Bord Na Mona railway on the Boora system in County Offaly, close to the swing bridge over the Grand Canal. The line carries peat to the Electricity Supply Board Shannonbridge Power Station.

Old and new peat fired power stations of the Irish Electricity Supply Board at Shannonbridge on the River Shannon. The old Shannonbridge plant at the rear was closed after an accident in February 2004 when a high-pressure pipe at the plant exploded. The plant was already to be decommissioned as part of the planned closure of all six peat-fuelled stations in the country at that time. Subsequently the new 150 megawatt West Offaly station at the front has been constructed and this is supplied with around 1 million tons of peat annually by Bord na Mona. The old station will be demolished soon. Just above the boats can be seen the rotating spans from the old Shannon Bridge which were placed here when replaced with a fixed concrete span.

Prehistoric or post-industrial? Originally constructed as a timber truss bridge this viaduct carried the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway (later Great Northern Railway of Ireland) on the approaches to the River Finn crossing. It was later replaced by lattice girder spans on braced metal trestles and then in c1925 it was replaced again by steel plate girder spans on cylindrical piers. On closure in 1959 the deck and much of the metal casing from the piers was removed, just leaving the pillars with one cross beam as a monument to the railway.

The old gasworks site has been transformed with the development of a large modern apartment complex. The only reminder of the previous use is this conversion of this gasholder into apartments. The framework has the name 'S Cutter & Sons Contractors London 1885' cast into the uprights. The developer took deposits on many of the apartments but has subsequently returned them and none has been occupied. There is now a planning application to convert the building to a 520 bed hotel.

A calm day on the Shannon. The Masonite factory at Drumsna, Co. Leitrim is a major employer in the Carrick-on-Shannon area of Ireland with a staff of around 300. Established in 1997, it produces door facings.

A windy day on the Shannon. Central to the production process at the Masonite plant at Drumsna is a 44.5 Megawatt wood-fuelled furnace which utilises 5 large electrical air fans to sustain the combustion processes and to cool the exhaust gases.

Spotted in the yard at the Cavan and Leitrim Railway in Dromod. Great Northern Railway No.389 was designed and built by the Great Northern Railway in the railway works at Dundalk in 1951. 96 of these buses were built, of which 55 passed to CIE in January 1959. This one remained in service until 1964 when it was converted to a special ambulance to carry stretcher cases to the shrine at Knock. This work continued until 1975 when the Gardner ambulances were replaced by 2 converted 'E' class Leyland Leopard buses. It was subsequently restored and repainted in GNR colours. The chassis is GNR Gardner 4/51/389 and powered by a Gardner 5LW. 33 seat body built in GNR workshops on steel frames supplied by Park Royal.

The lifting bascule section of Ferrymountgarret bridge no longer operates so you need to be careful of headroom at high tide when passing through this section of the tidal River Barrow above New Ross. This bridge was opened with a Scherzer mechanism lifting span on November 7, 1929 and completed at a cost of £22,500. It is understood that it was open to pedestrian traffic from May 1929.

Grain silo, Westport, County Mayo.

Iarnród Éireann. GM (London, Ontario) built loco No.211 crosses the River Barrow viaduct at Monasterevin with a train for Dublin.