landscapes
nature
An Autumn Sunset at the Kanturk Castle

Kanturk Castle is located on the outskirts of the market town of Kanturk. The town lies astride the Dalua and Allow Rivers in North County Cork, in the Blackwater Valley.


Kanturk Castle is an impressive ruined mansion built in the 16th century. The castle is a rectangular 4 story high Tudor-style mansion made from limestone rubble from a nearby quarry. The main structure is 28 m long by 11 m wide with a huge square tower at each corner. Each tower is 5 stories, roughly 29 m tall.


The castle has a remarkable number of well-preserved fireplaces. This building is an interesting combination of the traditional Irish tower-house architecture with pointed arches and the new Tudor architecture with Renaissance doorways and mullioned windows. I will have to go back and take photos of the inside of this castle.


I took these photographs 5 years ago, before Nala was even born. Little did I know I would be coming back to this place for months to come, tiny Nala sitting beside me in the car. She still gets excited when I tell her we're going for a spin. By the time she turned a year old, she no longer fit on the seat next to me. I started putting her in the boot, but every time I came back to the car I would find her sitting on one of the front seats instead.


I don't bring Nala for spins in the car anymore. I feel sad about it sometimes, but the thought of having to keep the car clean on a weekly basis makes me feel a bit better. It is hard enough staying on top of a clean house. With thee dogs now I spend a lot of my time following them around the house with the hoover.


The more the merrier anyway, we have a van now and we all go for spins together. Three German Shepherds wouldn't fit into a car very well anyway.
This castle is a quiet spot, it's never swamped by tourists, you might meet a local or two walking their dog. It's a beautiful place for a stroll.



I have taken many photos like the one below, where everything is out of focus. I really loved the effect then and constantly took blurry landscape photos. Now I look at them and wish I took a real photo instead, especially in this scenario. I was experimenting and learning my new camera though so I think I can forgive myself.

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