Good Times

Things are going well for me. Yesterday Darrien and myself got a private tour of Crumlin Road Gaol, a jail that has been derelict since 1996 but once housed many of "The Troubles" criminals. Among those we were touring with were a few people who were actual residents of the jail at one time! It was really interesting because we were one of the last tour groups allowed a tour and were invited by some loyalists friends we have met. Afterwards we were given a private loyalist tour of Shankill road and murals and then headed back to their bar, (keep in mind it is about 1pm) Rex Bar and were were bought round after round... you know how that goes! And we ended up by 8pm sauced, given a bottle of Black Bush Whiskey and invited for a dinner on Monday!

The day before, i was down in the lobby on my comp editing pictures when all of a sudden Bridget McLoone came down! Seriously that is the second time that we ran into each other in the most random places. Apperantly she goes on tours of Ireland every weekend and this weekend she stayed in my same hostel. We were not able to schedule a time to hangout while I was in Galway so these random coincidences are very nice! Off to the pub we went with a few of our friends and had a grand ol time... I would post some pics but they are on her camera...


Here are a few more shots from Holy Trinity Boxing club.

I followed the Holy Trinity ABC boxing club to the Dockers club for the weigh in for Tuesday nights fight . Before each match, boxers must be weighed and checked out by a doctor. Coach Michael Hawkins believes that his club has a very good chance of coming out on top. In total 5 fighters from his club will be boxing Tuesday. More photos to come.

Holy Trinity Boxing Club

Finally some action. Here are a few pictures from the Holy Trinity Boxing Club located in West Belfast. Holy Trinity opened in 1972, 3 years into the troubles and has since produced many world class fighters. Here are some pics from my first days shoot. More to come

West Belfast

West Belfast has been marked with violence over the past 30 years. "The Troubles" a guerilla war between Catholics and Protestents fighting for or against unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic. I arrived here yesterday and here are a few pics from a days walk. We wandered off the main roads and walked through a few staunchly Protestant areas and you could definitely still feel the tension in the air. Empty roads, houses with caged windows and people who avoided looking you in the eyes. Here are a couple things i found, In the coming days i will hopefully be working with some peace organizations and will be posting some pics.



Bobby Sands Mural in West Belfast. Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer died in the Maze Prison during the 1981 Hunger Strike after going without food for 66 days.



An Ulster Freedom Fighters graffiti is tagged on a wall off of Shankhill Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland Sept. 24, 2007. The Ulster Defense Association (UDA) began in 1971 by Charles Smith and is an outlawed loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland whose main goal is to reject Northern Ireland's union to the Republic of Ireland. At its peak there were more than 40,000 members.


The Peace Line on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland is a separation barrier between Protestant and Catholics neighborhoods. The Barriers, consisting of iron brick and steal walls reach heights up to 25 ft high and were created to reduce sectarian violence. At the height of "The Troubles", the peace lines were manned by police allowing passage during certain times of day and locked at night. Today, the peace lines mainly remain open.

Adventures through Ireland

Driving with 5 people in a car the size of a VW Rabbit can be quite exciting. Especially when you drive 40 minutes to a fisherman village only to find out that its just a harbor with a parking lot and that gail force winds are holding them at bay for at least another week. Then having to drive 40 minutes back south to Galway and taking another 40 minutes to drive about 5 miles. Then getting lost for about 2 hours trying to find some caves that end up being the worst tourist trap on the planet. But with all adventures it ends with excitement and a few nice pictures. Not to mention the realization that you have to drive all the way back home with the fuel light on not knowing if the next petrol station will be 5 km or 50 km away. Anyways, here are a few pics from the day.

Oh, and Troy, landscapes are awesome! ...(not really) but they are quite challenging to make something interesting and also totally different to from what i have been shooting for the past year.

Ireland is very indecisive about its weather, it can be sunny and blue one minute and the next it will be lashing out rain and wind. although overall it has been very nice weather-wise for us. Here are a few pictures from the past few days. We drove up north through Conamara and to Clifden, a very small town up north. Also some pictures in Galway.


Kylemore Abbey



Graveyard 15 minute north of Galway.


A man walks out of the Galway Bay after an afternoon swim.


A Connemara Pony

Day 1 and 2

Here are a few pics of out arrivale and first and second day. Jet-legged, sleepy and feeling good. I will do my best to write tomorrow

Final Details

So this will be my PhotoJournal of Ireland. I will try to update this as much as i can while i am on my journey and post some pictures.

So I leave for Ireland tomorrow and the bugs are beginning to bite, but my final preperations are in order. But of course i leave the packing and supply getting to the last day, but how can you travel? I need to run up to Santa Barbara to get a camera, then stop at Samys to get some more cards and finally head over to Costco to grab a new Hard drive. Soon, if i catch some sleep tonight i will be up in the air tomorrow morning.

Here are some pics from the last couple days.