Often feeling lost, I decided that this weekend I would try and find myself so I go to Loughrea for the last day of the three day Tara Energy Festival. It’s a drug and alcohol free event and so I shall have no way of overcoming any sense of social awkwardness that one sometimes feels amongst a group of people that one has never met before. Continue reading “Finding Myself at the Tara Energy Festival in Loughrea”
“You must love your job,” I quip to one of the other three photographers in attendance after watching him get in the middle of the action with his wide angle lens.
“I f***ing love it,” he says, and I suspect I know why. Continue reading “Wide Legs & Wide Lenses @ The Dirty Circus in Seven Bar”
Running 1,800 Miles (2,500KM) might not seem like everyone’s idea of a fun thing to do but for Leitrim born Tom Reynolds and Lillian Deegan that’s exactly what it is. Plus, they are raising money for Pieta House and Billy’s World which makes theirs a noble cause (You can donate by following this link). Continue reading “Forest Gumping for Pieta House & Billy’s World (Part 1 of 2)”
Danger is my middle name. Okay, it’s not really, but I’m not really a COW either. But nor is Batman a bat.
Today I’m hitting the high seas of Galway Bay for the eleventh annual Frances Thornton Memorial swim. One-hundred-and-two swimmers are braving the elements to swim 13km across the bay from Clare to Blackrock in Salthill and, with my unique set of special skills, I’ve managed to wrangle my way onto one of the more than seventy boats that have volunteered their assistance. Continue reading “Being Hit by the High Seas at the Frances Thornton Memorial Swim 2016”
Skint, but wanting to do something nice with my 6 year old, I am excited when I see the Facebook photos of a friend who has recently visited the Eagles Flying in Ballymote, Sligo with her kids.
Fifty euro is my budget and that includes the price of the petrol to get there from Galway city.
Entry times are at 10.30am and 2.30pm and we arrive at 2.15pm. Continue reading “Family Day Out from Galway to Eagles Flying in Sligo”
“Vroom, vroom, vroom,” say all little boys with their car toys just about as soon as they manage to crawl and clasp their little fingers around them.
And so, seeing an exhibition at The Galway Plaza in Kiltullagh of life-sized toys that really go “vroom, vroom” at the push of a pedal is a must see thing for fully grown boys who are now, technically, men. Continue reading “Vroom, Vroom, Vroom at the Luke & Chloe Car Exhibition”
The street preacher was right. We have been sinning and this is the divine punishment unleashed upon us as a consequence. The gates of hell have been unlocked and some of Satan’s vilest subjects have been vomited onto the streets of Galway. We all laughed at the street preacher, but nobody is laughing now.
Continue reading “Attack of the Ants”
Trailheads’ Western Way Ultra took a path along by the fisheries at Aasleagh Falls, and I feel I must say something about my time here, and the people I met, because I had some wonderfully interesting conversations with people while waiting for the ultra distance runners to arrive at this point of the race. Continue reading “Wild Men & Wild Salmon (TrailHeads’ Ultra Part Deux)”
Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, James Bond, Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean and many other movies besides are so inherently bound to the music that goes with them that they could not exist without them, at least not without losing something significant or becoming ridiculous. For this reason, I was delighted to, last Tuesday 28th June, attend the Esker Movie Festival’s ‘Night at the Movies’ in the Black Box which is led by Galway native Peter Joyce who is a musician, composer, and conductor. Continue reading “Hero Music from the Esker Music Orchestra”
Lord of the Rings style landscapes are what many describe as the kind of scenery that one sees in Connemara. Indeed, author of the trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien, is said to have visited here and it is believed that it may have been a source of inspiration for his books. But here today there are no goblins, orcs, wizards, hobbits or talking trees, but like the obsession of Golem in the movies, there is something precious. There are 25 real-life heroes undertaking a task unimaginable to most mere mortals. And most are wearing blue, like Superman or Wonder Woman, so it is obvious that these folk are the real deal. Continue reading “Into the Wild with TrailHeads’ First Western Way 50 & 100 Mile Ultras”
THE GALWAY COW 