Isn’t the world full of wonders, and isn’t Ireland in the middle of that? Mona Sheehy Lord Dunsany The trip to Ireland was an attempt to console myself for a promised relocation back to Seattle that failed to materialize in the wake of a bursting Bubble. I tried to think of some exotic place that, yet, wasn't too far away and where I could speak English. Once I'd made such a restriction, Ireland leaped readily to mind, as much because I have been an admirer of the Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany (the 18th, died 1957) as anything. I have no Irish blood, and haven't been interested in anything specifically Irish, although I've certainly been aware of the incredible heritage of English literature coming out of the Emerald Isle over the past centuries. As it happened, a commercial web site had appeared under the sponsorship of the Dunsany estate, and I contacted the webmaster in hopes of making some sort of arrangement to visit the grounds of the “castle” and photograph it. In fact, I made photography the focus of my trip.

To maximize the pleasure of this aspect of the trip, I purchased something of a dream set of photographic equipment. Insane, really, especially because it used film! But the digital world did not then have the grasp on my photographic imagination that it does now.

Because I was going alone and because I needed to carry around a bunch of equipment, I decided to rent a car, managing to overcome my fears of driving on the left side of a road. In retrospect, I think this was the best means by which to get around Ireland. ← →