PERIODIC PHOTOGRAPH  
I will display different photographs here at fairly regular intervals.

Kildavin Bridge

This bridge is the next upstream bridge from Bunclody. It crosses the river Slaney close to Kildavin village. Kildavin is about 3 miles North of Bunclody.

Ireland has a lot of these old stone-built bridges and it is amazing to think that the heaviest foreseen load that they would have had to carry would have been a horse-drawn load. Nowadays they are supporting trucks carrying scores of tonnes (2205 lbs.). It is surely a testament to the design and workmanship of the period. Our modern bridges look very bleak in comparison to these aesthetically pleasing structures.

I may be going out on a limb here, as anyone to whom I have mentioned what I am about to write here thought I was bonkers and denied any recollection of a similar experience. My next periodical page may have to await my return from some psychiatric hospital. However, I will (bravely or foolhardily) proceed to tell my tale.
Forget about your LSD and all other hallucinogens. If you want a trip, try standing at the center of one of these bridges and stare intently at the flowing water below. After a while you will be zooming upstream as the mesmerizing effect of staring at the flowing water takes hold.
I haven't tried this since I was a child and I remember some of my (short-memoried (see first line in this paragraph)) friends claiming a similar experience at that time.

There used to be an iron and timber foot bridge across the river Clody about a mile from here. It has since been demolished and replaced by a new traffic carrying bridge. It was at this foot bridge (called The Gangboards) that I spent many a summer evening paddling or trying to catch minnows. Just a few yards down stream there was an island used to divide the river in order to create two parallel shallow crossings for traffic, rather than the deeper crossing that the single river created. The island was about a quarter of an acre in area and at this time of year it used to be blanketed in bluebells. I have been trying to get a photo of the Gangboards from some of my neighbours who lived closer to it and if successful, I will display it here later.

Near Rathanna
(a village at the western side of Mt. Leinster)

This is a picture of me an my dog taking a break during one of our longer walks. I started my walk from the Nine Stones and came in a slightly circuitous route through Rathanna village heading towards Kiltealy. I came across this isolated bridge about a mile at the Kiltealy side of Rathanna. I say isolated because it not crossing a road but a short lane-way leading to some fields. There is a more substantial bridge on a road a few hundred yards upstream from here. I would guess that this bridge (above) was on an older route in this area and probably became isolated with the making of the new road a few hundred yards away.

Small bridge near Nine Stones

This bridge caters for one of the numerous streams that flow from Mt. Leinster. My son, Matthew, is peering through from the other end.

Ballycarney

This fine old bridge crosses the Slaney at Ballycarney, a few miles down river from Bunclody. It is a little unusual in that there are indentations in the parapet, perhaps to allow a person to safely stand aside in the days of horse-drawn carriages or maybe just a structural strengthening design.