Northen Ireland | Find the Beauty

Mussenden Temple

Just the night before, we were standing on Downhill Strand which is the stretch of beach below this gorgeous structure.

This morning we decided to visit the Mussenden Temple up close and personal.

Named in honor of his cousin Mrs. Frideswide Mussenden, whose beauty he greatly admired, this was the Bishop’s library. Its walls were once lined with bookcases. A fire was kept burning constantly in the basement. This and its enclosed flue meant that, even in this very exposed location, the books never got damp.

“I intend to build a Grecian temple in Frideswide’s honor…I intend to build it on the edge of a cliff. It will give employment to the poor, to the district and employment.” The Earl Bishop was clearly heart broken when Frideswide died.

Over the years the erosion of the cliff face at Downhill has brought Mussenden Temple ever closer to the edge, and in 1997 The National Trust carried out cliff stabilization work to prevent the loss of the building.

The inscription around the building reads:

“Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis
e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem.”
“Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore
The troubled sailor, and hear the tempests roar.”

Dan and I had the opportunity to visit Ireland a few years ago and I am finally getting around to working on the numerous albums that were created during our visit. Revisiting these images (there are thousands of them) has been a treat but has made me miss Ireland even more 😉 What can I say about Ireland? It was a magical experience. The people were friendly, the lodging and hospitality was perfect and the beauty of this country is just stunning, absolutely stunning. I cannot wait for the day that we return as there is so much more for us to explore.

We stayed at this lovely bed and breakfast the first two nights we were in Ireland. The owners of this beautiful home (Kilmail Country Chalet) were wonderful hosts, the lodging was extremely comfortable, and the food was AMAZING! We chose this particular bed and breakfast because if their close vicinity to Giants Causeway and The Dark Hedges (The Kingsroad). We were lucky enough to visit the Dark Hedges twice during our stay. After a brief hail shower in the morning of the second day, we headed out to photograph this national treasure again. The comments noted below and the image of the delicious traditional Irish breakfast was taken from Dan’s blog:

The beech tree-line road is one of the most photographed natural landmarks on the island of Ireland. This tourist attraction recently achieved global prominence after it appeared on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. In January 2016, Storm Gertrude damaged several of the 200+ year old trees. The site is still a vision to behold, but it is a fraction of what it once was; only 90 of the approximately 150 trees remain standing.

We had two opportunities to shoot this natural wonder. Our first view of this natural marvel was the morning of day 2 of our trip after a hearty traditional Irish breakfast while we waiting out a brief storm where a wee bit of hail fell. When we arrived at The Dark Hedges it was everything but dark. The sky was bright and full of clouds; the remnants of the earlier hail shower still lingering. The harsh sun cast deep and heavy shadows. You can easily see the gaps that Storm Gertrude made in some of these images,

Kilmail Country Chalet Breakfast