John Eagle Photography

May 2018 Very pleased with this ad designed by Kathleen Finnegan for the Lighthouse Digest coming out in the next issue December 2017 Well folks I have survived cancer, but overcoming the effects of chemo it a challenge. I wrote a piece about what I went through for the Irish Times and you can read it if you wish at: We chatted alien movies May 2017 I am not writing many blogs at the moment as my main task is overcoming cancer, which I appear to be doing thanks to the fantastic medical staff of the Mercy and CUH hospitals in Cork. Of course if I snuff it my paintings will be worth a fortune to someone. Speaking of which my friend Jim Jewel has written a wonderful blog about me. Here is the link: http://jimjewell.com/a-pocket-of-resistance/john-eagle-a-dingle-treasure-and-i-havent-met-him-yet/ I am really pleased with this new oil painting, must be influence from the chemo drugs The Hidden Valley, oil on canvas June 2016 I've been flying my drone round Kenmare, taking aerial shots of the hotels Park and Sheen Falls. Maybe you would like to see them May 2016 I painted the above oil in the afternoon of May 14th, blissfully unaware of what was going on a few miles away in Castletownbere. I had got myself this big blank canvas and went at it with Prussian blue, some raw umber, greens , Paynes Grey andsome white, lost in my own world creating one of my best paintings in a long while. After I had finished I took a picture, and put it on my website. Then the phone rang with the worst possible message I could have got. My dear friend and mentor Dick Grogan had passed away in the local hospital and so without a moment's hesitation I decided to dedicate this oil to his memory and it pains me to think he will never see it, or anymore that I do. Dick, who was a senior journalist for the Irish Times, bought the very first oil painting I ever sold, at the Beara Arts Show in Castletownbere in the year 2000. Then he bought several more, and began showing my work off around the country. On one occasion he took me up to Dublin so I could show my work to the galleries up there. He also took me round the galleries in Cork city. He arranged an exhibition of my work at The Old Market House Arts Centre in Dungarvan in 2005. The show 'The Elements' was launched by the artist Tim Goulding and was my most successful show ever selling 17 oil paintiings.. Over the years Dick has always been there, telling me when I had done something good, and suggesting how I could have done things otherwise. We didn't always agree, but he was always there to give me support, and if he ever saw me in town he bought me a meal. I shall find it hard carrying on without him, but at the same time I know he wouldn't want me to stop. I attended his 'reposing' at the funeral home, but couldn't face seeing him being lowered into the ground. I was painting while that was going on. I would just like to say thank you Dick for being such a big part of my artist's life Wild Atlantic Way blogpost April 2016 After a long mental block I have returned to painting scenes close to my heart, up in the mountains and valleys of Beara. This one shows Seamus going after the sheep high up in the Caha Mountains of Beara. You can see my Art Gallery for others   November 2014 October The Great & Co shop of Castletownbere, which specialises in selling locally made crafts of the Beara Peninsula has produced this super calendar showing off 13 of my top images on high quality paper. All bases are covered, Castletownbere, Eyeries, Dursey, Allihies, Ardgroom, Kenmare, Glengarriff. So what are you waiting for order your's now before they are all gone. SOLD OUT September here's a really lovely book about postcards which is now available in my Beara Bookshop. Love from Cork - Postcards of the City and County by Perry O'Donovan €9.99 + shipping Postcards conveying people’s messages and interests were the Twitter, Facebook and email in pre-Internet Ireland. Millions were thrown away but not all. Based on private collections from Adrian Healy and John James, Love from Cork portrays the city and county of Cork through a century of Irish and European picture postcards (1900–2000). In addition to the postcards there are transcriptions of all the written details on the cards. Interspersed among these are extracts from the rich literary heritage of this part of southwest Ireland: William Trevor, Frank O'Connor, Elizabeth Bowen, Sean Ó Faoláin, Peter Somerville-Large, Mary Leland, and others. Also included are writers such as James Joyce (who set a significant episode of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in Cork city), Benedict Kiely and Robert Lloyd Praeger. Even Queen Victoria features – there is an excerpt from her private journal giving her first impressions of Cork’s harbour and the ‘Cove of Cork’ (renamed ‘Queenstown’ in her honour). There has never been a book on the postcards of Cork, covering the city and county from Allihies to Youghal, from Clonakilty to Charleville and just about everywhere in between. This is a finely wrought homage to the author’s native county, an absorbing collection inviting one to explore Ireland’s largest county in a bygone era Pictures above and below are of the backdrop to my 00 train layout. I decided to paint the backdrop with oils. I hope people won't want to be buying these pieces as they are going to be difficult to get off the walls, screwed on tight!! September light is here at last, making shots like the above possible again. This is Ballycrovane on the Beara Peninsula For anyone interested in purely lighthouse news then please visit my Lighthouse News page where you will hopefully be pleased with what you see August I have been invited to do an exhibition of my oil paintings opening December 9th at the Lauragh Lodge Restaurant. The exhibition will run into the New Year Long and eagerly awaited book launch takes place Connie Murphy, who started the Beara Historical Society, is well known in Beara for his knowledge of ancient monuments and archaeology. His book 'The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Beara Peninsula' was a massive labour of love and it certainly shows. Beautifully produced by The Beara Historical Society it was launched in Twomeys Bar, Castletownbere August 23rd, by Ursula Egan. The above picture shows Noel Harrington TD with Connie, proudly clutching his copy of the book The book which comes with a brilliantly detailed map of Beara showing the sites of everything from wedge graves to standing stones is available to purchase online at The Beara Bookshop One of the best groups to play the Regatta in a long while The Springsteens brought many people into The Square in Castletownbere. I have put up several pictures of the crowds, click here to see them Farmers in Glenbeg watching their friends rounding up sheep high up on the mountain I kicked off August with a fab boat trip round Bantry Bay, getting up closer and personal with the Calf, Roancarrig and the Bull as I ran the Bantry Bay Boat Trip for the second time this Summer and this time I shot a video going through the Bull tunnel using my 5D mk2, this can be viewed on my Bantry Bay tour page A spin off from my Irish Lighthouse tours is the boat trip to the Bull Rock on the north side of Bantry Bay. During the Summer months this is possible to do if the weather is reasonable. I did one yesterday, August 2nd 2014. Leaving Castletownbere we went down Berehaven to Roancarrig lighthouse which has one of those fancy led lights on which replaces the traditional tower light, see picture below. The metal structure to the left of the traditional tower We then went along the south side of Bere Island and straight to Dursey Sound, passing under Ireland’s only cable car,  before heading out into the deep blue an choppy waters of the Atlantic. For awhile the waves were coming over us, but as we headed further out it calmed a good bit although to say it was in anyway calm would be untrue. Got a great view of Calf, Cow and Bull rocks in a line. The Cow is looking increasingly like an elephant see below, which I took in June 2013 on calmer seas note the trunk passing through the famous tunnel a few times, where I shot a video with my 5D mk2 which you can watch here. After that we went through the arch in the Cow before returning home to Castletownbere. Due to weather restrictions this boat trip isn’t possible all the time, but when conditions are favourable it is a lot of fun. If you would like to join me on one of these boat trips then please may I refer you to my Bull Rock Boat Trip page. I gve a talk along the way as we pass points of interest, like Garranes Retreat, Neil Jordan’s holiday home etc. I charge €75 per person for this 3 hour boat ride which includes cost of rib, pilot  and fuel for the ride. Groups of 8 or more I charge €50 pp. Maximum number I can take is 10 in one trip About to go through the Bull Rock tunnel   August 3rd saw me head up Hungry Hill for the second time in one week, I guess I'm trying to lose weight!!. Got a great shot of Adrigole harbour Really pleased with this one, you can see for miles in it The highest mountain on the Beara Peninsula presents a challenge to many people, some only doing it once in their lifetime while others go up frequently. The late Dr. John Lyne went up three times in one day, and often took groups of people up there. In his honour there is a parking space left for him. I went up with him on a couple of occasions, one of them in dense fog, could not see further than the people climbing beside me. I thought for sure we wouldn’t go all the way up, but we did. I climbed the mountain twice in one week, which is good for me, maybe Dr. John would be proud of me. The first time I went up the Western side which involves walking round the base of the mountain to the turf bogs and then going up a ravine. I felt really pleased with myself, but unfortunately I only took my 28mm wide angle lens with me which is not wide enough to do some of the shots I wanted. So the following Sunday I went back up there, this time going up the south side and taking with me my 17-40L super wide and 85mm lenses. I went up mainly to vent out my frustration for I had done a market stall in The Square in Castletownbere for 6 hours and not sold a single thing, not even a postcard for 40c, sod all, 6 hours wasted. I was well frustrated so I went and climbed the mountain and pushed myself to see how fast I could get up it. I did it in 1 and a half hours, which I felt was quite good for me I was rewarded with some stunning views like the one above of Adrigole Harbour, which I have already made an enlarged print of and you can see all the way to Whiddy Island with a tanker off it. The print has really good resolution, and will easily enlarge to 40×30 inches   July I have long had a passion for painting moonlight scenes, which nags some people who tell me my work is too dark. The more they say it the more I like to paint in this vein. Here is a scene of fishermen rescuing their long boat as a storm approaches I've been painting a backdrop to my Hornby 00 layout. I thought about it for awhile. a long while, perhaps too long, wondering what I should do and then I just went ahead and painted some scenes. I got some of the throwaway ply the local builders merchant was throwing out, thin bendy stuff. At first I stuck sheets of paper a friend was throwing out, backing paper to the rolls of sticker sheets he uses for making labels for cars and vans. Painting onto this proved a bit difficult and so I tried painting without it, ie straight onto the ply and that worker a treat. I used oil paints like I normally do for painting onto canvas. I am really pleased the results   I spent the first weekend of the month in the wilds of Mayo In October of last year I brought out a couple of snow scenes Christmas cards, one of Eyeries, the other of Ardgroom. I also brought out some greeting cards of oil paintings I had done and found they started selling. The tourists had more or less gone so the locals were buying them. So in February I ordered some more, adding to my collection. I found they sold quicker if I lightened my subject matter up. This sort of goes against what I stand for, ie painting to keep people happy. The amount of people who consistently nag me about my paintings being too dark is unreal. However for the sake of the greeting cards I lightened up. The paintings themselves do not sell, and rather than waste the canvases I will be painting over them and putting on my darker scenes, like my moonlight paintings which I love to do. I still find it amazing that people always know best when it comes to my art work. For years people have been telling my paintings are too dark and gloomy. They are not dark and gloomy at all, they are atmospheric and when the spotlights hit them they come alive. There's over 150 hanging on walls in private collections around the World so I guess I know better than the people who think they know best. Anyway here is a link to my range of greeting cards. Enjoy the cards because the actual canvases I will paint over. One, in particular, Barleycove, I have already painted over because the person who wanted it done asked me to make Crookhaven more obvious, which very reluctantly did, then she asked me to make the waves stormier. To keep my clinet happy I made the village more obvious and I brushed up the waves. So now it only exists in greeting cards form Got the chance to be in the lantern room of Galley Head lighthouse as dusk descended enabling me to get super shots of the lantern lighting up This happened during the 5th running of the Southern Irish Lighthouse Extreme Tour which I have tweaked a bit each year to make it better and better. This year I added in a tour of Little Samphire Island and we got given a great tour of the lighthouse after a short boat trip out to it. The weather was with us, lots of sunshine and for the most part flat calm seas. We started off by going to Inisheer for a pony trap ride through the narrow high walled lanesThe boat trip to the Bull Rock was amazing, and we also got to visit Skellig Michael and meet the puffins. All boat trips took place, although the one to the Fastnet tested us a good bit as a storm had whipped up overnight after our Bull Rock trip. Michael O'Driscoll handled his boat Blue Thunder well. There was only one really scary moment when the boat leaned to one side. He asked us if we wanted to go round again and we all agreed that once was enough. As usual we spent two nights at Galley Head lighthouse living at the keepers cottages. We also went to Hook Head lighthouse which was enjoyable although perhaps a bit of a long drive. For 2015 we are going to visit Ballycotton lighthouse instead which makes things much more manageable for us Something so magical about a lantern all lit up, a moment to treasure. Galley Head is on the south coast of Co. Cork, Ireland. I give workshops there. Photographers meet me there for 2-3 days to learn how to take better shots of lighthouses. We all get to stay in the Keeper's Cottage On the way to the Bull Rock we pass the Cow, and in this picture it looks more like an elephant. (I suppose we should keep that between ourselves!) I feel the tunnel was once much longer than just the arch it is these days. Decay is showing both on this and the Bull and possibly in 500 years these two magnificent rocks will have crumbled into the sea altogether I have a page devoted to news about lighthouses called Lighthouse News for anyone interested. Gives details of things you wouldn't find on my blog June Tour dates announced for Southern Irish Extreme Lighthouse Tour 2015 The tour from Inisheer to Ballycotton following the Wild Atlantic Way will take place from June 20th to 28th. One place has already been taken, a year in advance   The Southern Irish Lighthouse tour visited Valentia Island on June 23rd for an overnight stay at the Atlantic Villa in Knightstown. We were there to get our boat to Skellig Michael the following day. While at Knightstown I took a stroll out to the old slate quarry taking shots of the sun setting over the Blasket Islands. On my return I took some shots of Cromwell Point lighthouse The Southern Irish Extreme Lighthouse Tour celebrates five years this month with the 2014 tour getting under way. I was asked in 2008 if I would put together a tour of Irish lighthouses and came up with a plan. The person who asked me actually backed out and I ended up getting no-one for the tour. So rather than admit defeat I boldly put on my website how great the tour had been and it was great to meet so many people. Two months later I had 8 people booked on the 2009 Southern tour in July, from which the above picture was taken as we rounded the Fastnet. (As you can see it was fairly rough out there, and we nearly didn't go as conditions the night before were desperate. The main reason I avoid July for doing this tour as there are always storms here in SW Ireland end of July start of August) Back then all we did was go out to Skellig Michael, Bull Rock and Fastnet. I didn't do a tour in 2010 as I was busy with my Collins Press book coming out. In 2011 we covered the south coast and went up the west coast and did the North as well. It was 15 days in the bus and we all agreed it was a bit too long. In 2012 I ran a Northern and a Southern tour, Northern in August and Southern in June. This tour was the first to include Inisheer and Hook Head. These worked very well and I repeated them again in 2013. For 2014 I have added yet another boat trip, this one to Little Samphire Island, and plans are already in place to do the tour again in 2015 Traditional musicians Catríona Harrington and Orlaith Murphy playing outside Kevin O'Neill's bar in Allihies during the Michael O'Dwyer Festival. Catríona won the best overall cup and Orlaith the Slow Air cup May I am now offering a free pen with the Beara Places set of cards What started off as just a bit of fun has turned into a serious business enterprise. A year ago I would never have realised I would have so many people buying my greeting cards of my artwork. I now have 15 cards in the range. They are on sale all over Beara, in Allihies, Castletownbere, Glengarriff, Bantry, Eyeries and Lauragh, and also here on my website. I painted them in my studio here in Beara, West Cork and they are made for me in Clonakilty also in West Cork. Time to get scribbling, I mean who wants to receive a boring text message when they can get a beautiful painting on a professionally made card Caught myself a nice sunset May 23rd, like the one here looking out across Kenmare Bay towards the Scarriff and Bolus Head. More pictures on my Latest Pictures page I painted the above over the weekend to add to my collection of village and town scenes of Beara. This one, hopefully you recognise it, is Castletownbere. The first one I did was Allihies which is now out as a greeting card, and I have also done Ardgroom and Eyeries and they will follow shortly as greeting cards I saw this rock breathing fire into the night sky, thought it was a bit unusual so took a pic of it Really pleased with being selected as Number 1 tour on IrishCentral. Here we are in the merry month of May with the flowers popping up everywhere, and a great feeling for getting out into the Beara mountains and valley to enjoy the fresh air. I was up the top of the Healy Pass on May Day and took this picture of the lake and the Pocket. It is two pictures which I 'stitched' together I am pleased with the image. At first I was frustrated the lake was in shadow but on reflection I feel it looks better like that as it actually balances the sunshine looking up the valley. Prints are available if you would like one April I have returned to the brush with a couple of new oil paintings Glanmore and Allihies painting them with a view to making greeting cards to add to my collection, they can be seen in my Beara Light Gallery April 14.4.14 wasn't just a fancy date number we got a red moon here in Beara and I snapped off a few shots, and put this one on Facebook. Got 85 'likes' in the space of 24 hours. I go up the hill behind my house most days and yesterday I remembered to take my tripod with me, which was just as well. I was feeling really low after having a frustrating sort of a day and then i took this shot and put it on Facebook. I was stunned by the response I got. I just thought it was cool to see the moon 'rolling' along the ridge of the Miskish Range above Glenbeg. Prints available I saw a fabulous sunset in the first week of the month, and took some shots like this one of the Kilcatherine Cairn which you can see on my Beara Stones page I also turned 60, took awhile to get used to it but have accepted it now!! March I have brought out two more greeting cards, the above is called 'Fishing Community' and the one below is 'Will Our Path Ever Meet?' I hope like them Above is proof the little people exist, taken in the forests of Beara The Wild Atlantic Way is the big new thing from Irish Tourism and so I have created my own page of photographs from stretches of the route My brand new 2014 brochure is now ready to download The brochure advertises my greeting cards and workshops
Found some interesting waves at Ballydonegan Bay near Allies, March 18th and added them to my Beara Coast page
Don Baker playing live at The High Tide Club in Castletownbere, March 15th. Hi res versions of these images and prints available on request

I went up to Athlone March 12th to do a slide show for the Athlone Photography Club for what turned out to be a fun couple of days. I very much enjoyed giving the slide show to the members of the club and I am very grateful to them for putting me up in the Radisson Blu Hotel from where the above picture was taken from showing one of the bridges. As fate would have it on March 13th as I left to drive home the fan belt on my car snapped and I didn't get very far home. However this happened a short distance from Michael Moore VW garage where I was well looked after and while the car was being fixed the Secretary of the club Liam Kidney took me over to Portlick Woods for a great walk by the shores of the Shannon where I took the picture below. If you would like me to come to your club or company to perform my lighthouse slide show please contact me

This year I will be continuing my successful daily walks in Beara, taking people on guided wanders in Beara, showing what inspires me to paint. Taking with us a camera and a sketch pad we go off into the valleys. Far from the hectic lifestyle of the city, where the only hurry is a flock of sheep heading off up the hillside. If you would like to join me then please do, the page to visit is Beara Peninsula Walks. I look forward to meeting you and hearing your views on painting and taking pictures over a slowly poured pint of Guinness

The picture of the storm wave at Garnish has appeared on the front page of Inishore Ireland magazine. If you would like a print then Beara Coast is the page to go

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An Post RÁS 2013

I have created the above advertisement for my greeting cards

I was out at the harbour's mouth to Berehaven where a nice tidal surge was still evident after the recent hurricane

I love the sound the waves make as they pound the rocks. A dangerous thing to be doing, one has to be very careful and watch where the waves are breaking and how strong they are before venturing too close. In the above shot the waves are hitting the Piper Rocks and below you can see Ardnakinna lighthouse on Bere Island in the background which we pass close to on the Southern Extreme Irish Lighthouse Tour in June each year

Due to a cancellation 2 places have become available on my Southern Irish Lighthouse Tour 2014

Coastal road from Allihies to Eyeries during the February 8th storm. I saw where I needed to take the shot from, but getting to it in just the trainers I had on was a bit dicey. And of course when I got to the right spot the waves calmed down a good bit. So I stood on the rock getting wetter and colder by the second waiting for good waves to return. Nice addition to my Beara Coast page

Special offer on this image of the Fastnet lighthouse. For a limited time only the 30x20 inch print size is €20 off. See here

Returned to Garnish February 1st to see if I could improve on the storm pictures I took on Christmas Eve. I have added this to my page of Beara Coast views

Please choose the size you require from the drop down menu

16x12 inches €69.00 EUR 18x20 inches €75.00 EUR 20x16 inches €84.00 EUR 24x20 inches €99.00 EUR 30x20 inches €149.00 EUR 36x24 inches €179.00 EUR 40x30 inches €225.00 EUR

January

The coast of Beara has been getting a pounding this year from numerous storms. Some people blame Global Warming but according to a farmer I met in my travels we always get bad winters after great summers. More storm pictures can be seen on my Beara Coast page

New oil painting greeting cards due for release February 2014

All the way to the Sea, Essex River MA

Waiting Out the Storm

I am using artistic licence for this one because I flipped the image horizontally to make the card as I feared the house might apear on the back if it stayed the way I painted it. Below is the correct way

Ballycrovane

Frosty renamed Winter's morning for the card

Meeting of the Rivers

Due to popular requests my prints are now available in print size 18x12 inches. This size is far better suited to 35mm cameras. If you do not see in the drop down menu of the print you wish to order please email me. I have not re-worked all the drop down menus

I'm launching my 'At the Races' tour of race tracks. We go to the races in Dingle and Allihies and visit horses all along the way

So if your love is for horses then this is the tour to come on

'Early Start'

oil on canvas, depicting fishermen makiing an early start to the day. My first oil painting of 2014 and I am thinking of making a greeting card of it. It can be viewed in a larger size in my Seascapes Gallery

I am introducing these new 7x5 prints set in an off white matt and then in a beautiful locally made wooden frame with glass approx 17x14 inches in total size. The above picture is one of my aerials of Roancarrig lighthouse

Slides shows of Irish Lighthouses. For a small fee I will come out to your club, society and give you an hour and a half digital slide show of my photography. Starting at my local lighthouse of Roancarrig and going up the west coast, along the top and back down finishing at the Fastnet (pictured) If you would like me to perform my slide show for you please contact me. I have given the slide show in several places including Limerick, Shannon, Dungarvan, Cork, and Massachusetts. I also do a slide show of the Beara Peninsula showing stone circles, lakes, mountains, the coast and everything that makes Beara so lovely

We had a powerful storm on January 6th. I took the above picture at the harbour's mouth to Berehaven showing the Piper Rocks and Ardnakinna lighthouse on Bere Island in the background. Prints available at Beara Coast

Happy New Year to all my blog readers

I kick off 2014 with getting a picture on the front page of The Southern Star newspaper

One of my shots of waves hitting the rocks at Garnish towards the end of the Beara Peninsula

Irish Ferries have been building an infographic site about the Wild Atlantic Way. They have built it around 10 tourism attractions in Cork and Kerry on the Wild Atlantic Way driving route that are less well known but that would be really fun or interesting to visitors.  My own photographic website John Eagle Photo.com has been chosen by them as an example of great photography portraying the local area

December

Got myself some nice wave shots during the Christmas Eve storm. I went over to Garnish at the end of the Beara Peninsula and took numerous shots before I got the perfect angle. Other views can be seen on my Beara Coast page

Pictures of mine have appeared in the French nautical magazine Chasse~Marée, an article by Vincent Guigueno

There is a spelling mistake on my Lighthouse Dedicated website front page, it says Balbrittain when of course it should say Balbriggan, if you click on it it does goes to the postcards for Co. Dublin which includes Balbriggan. I have tried to change it but uploading to the old Indigo site is nigh impossible these days. I shall keep trying. If you would like to see pictures I have taken of Balbriggan then you can see them on this site I recently put all my lighthouse pictures onto this server and they can be seen by going to www.JohnEaglePhotography.com I managed to correct this on January 2nd 2014

Here I am with my stall at the Lehanmore Community Centre for the Christmas Fair

I've been re-working my art website www.JohnEagleArt.com

My stall at the Castletownbere Christmas Fair in the Beara Bay 2013, selling prints books, Christmas cards

'Meeting of the Waters'

Painted this one over 'Autumn in Beara'. I have no space for keeping paintings so might as well paint over them

November 2013

I've been updating my lighthouse website and one of the pictures that please me is this one

of Rockabill off Skerries. Looks like a model of the lighthouse

Here's myself with my Christmas Market Stall in Castletownbere selling both of my books, my Christmas greetings cards and signed prints

Sunset looking across Coulagh Bay to the Bull Rock

I am changing my website a small bit, moving all my lighthouse work over onto my main server. It will take a little while but should be worth it. It is time to say farewell to Indigo who I have been with since 1996. Going to be a little sad but they are expensive for what they offer

'Autumn in Beara'

Painted this November 19th inspired by the Autumn colours. You can see it and others I have done in my Landscape art gallery

Never ceases to amaze me how much An Post (Irish Post Office) charge for delivering my book in Ireland, a cool €6.50 When my book was first published in 2010 it used to cost just €3 to post, so it's more than doubled in postage costs in just three years. Hard to believe. An Post say they have reduced the cost of sending big parcels out to far away places, for people sending to their loved ones who have left the country. So to counteract this adjustment they have more than doubled the cost of mailing my book. In April they more than doubled the cost from €3 to €6.50 for mailing the book anywhere in Ireland. This makes my book more expensive than it should be, but with An Post controlling the cost of my book my hands are tied

I have linked up with Marion O'Sullivan, a fabulous designer of knitwear who lives on Bere Island here. She makes some lovely items for you to wear this Winter to keep you cosy and warm.

Check out her hand made items at Beara Crafts.com which hosts lots of lovely things made on the Beara Peninsula

2 of my prints of Duvillaun, an island which lies of the Belmullet Peninsula have been framed up and are now on display in the Tourist Office in Belmullet, Co. Mayo

It took awhile but Autumn has arrived here in Beara and the leaves are changing to some really beautiful colours

September

I was at the consecration of the new temple at Dzogchen Beara by

July

My thanks to Tom MacSweeney the maritime correspondent, served for many years with RTÉ tv and radio, now retired. He officially launched my new book Ireland's Lighthouses - A Photo Essay in the Kinsale Bookshop in Kinsale July 15th.

l-r: Tom MacSweeney, Gillian Hennessy of Collins Press, John Eagle

picture: Denis Scannell, used courtesy of Irish Examiner

My thanks to the Irish Examiner for the great publicity they gave me in both the Examiner and the Evening Echo

May

Lorna Siggins mentioned my new book in the Irish Times yesterday:

a stunning new paperback photo essay, entitled Ireland’s Lighthouses, which has just been published by maritime photographer, John Eagle, for Collins Press. Lorna Siggins, The Irish Times May 2010

April

My new book 'Ireland's Lighthouses - A Photo Essay by John Eagle' hits the shops April 12th

I have some rolls of Fuji colour slide and print film looking for a good home, if anyone wants them. I also got some darkroom items, like negative printer, dev drums, spirals. If you would like any of these items, then please hit the Contact button and get in touch with me

My new book on Irish lighthouses published by Collins Press is now in stock. Please note, this book is much bigger to my first one and weighs a lot more, therefore the postage is more. Click here to order and I will post to you straight away. Please let me know if you would like me to sign it for you. My first book

Picture shows my faithful white collie Quisha on the pad at Fanad

due for release in May can now be pre-ordered from my Lighthouse dedicated website www.JohnEaglePhotography.com The price will be €19.99 euros but you can order it direct from me 15.99 (plus P&P) and I will sign and dedicate it for you if you wish

December 2009

After watching the Top Gear drive from Bolivia to Chile I start to wonder how much is staged for the television cameras. I bet they started off where they ended, thinking to themselves that big slope would be fun to drive down, 'yeah but what shall we put before it?' That bit where Clarkson is driving close to the edge on the road to La Paz you will note he is on the left side of the road whereas in every other shot all the traffic is on the right. Why would he be driving on the wrong side of the road?

I have just finished reading the proofs for my new book  ‘Ireland’s Lighthouses – a photo essay by John Eagle’ which will hopefully appear in May 2010, published by the Collins Press I am realy excited as they are doing a wonderful job of it for me

October 2009

I have been painting a couple of new oils

Went up to Clare Island 3rd week of October as I needed to get better pictures of the lighthouse for my new book. To view pictures please click here

I flew to America Sept 29th, Dublin to Orlando. My first visit to the United States since my Hawaii trip in 1984. I spent a couple of days in Vero Beach, Florida, with friends before flying with them to New Mexico for the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque which was fun but what really excited me was a couple of drives into the hills. First into the foothills of Sandia Peak, and then to an area west of Santa Fe which I believe is called Jemez where I saw colour that totally blew me away. Later in my trip I went to New England, visiting Vermont and a small part of New Hampshire.

What I can't figure out is why can America, heavily criticised for carbon emissions, can get by using 110 power supply but here in Ireland we need more than double that at 240.

Wheat problem: Before I went away I decided to have a bowl of soup and some toast. The result, after only a few minutes, was prickly skin and a red raw throat. So I told my friends in America I could not eat wheat, but got envious when they started eating the toasted burgers at Starbucks. So taking a huge risk I had some of the toast over there with no problems whatsoever. I had bread un-toasted, I had burger buns, all the things that would not make me ill. On the jet going over to Orlando they gave me a scone for tea and I got a bad reaction from it, on the jet coming back I checked the bun they gave me for breakfast and found it came from Chicago and I got no side effects whatsoever. What in God's name do they put in the wheat here in Ireland?? In case you suffer as well and need a cure from the effects of Irish wheat, like itchy skin and sore throat... I find by eating an unsweetened pink grafefruit the irritation goes away.

September 2009

After months of conveyor belt rain we have been blessed with an Indian Summer here in Beara and I have been taking full advantage of the fine weather by escaping into the mountains to take some shots. The grass is now a gorgeous golden bronze.

August 2009

The Tudors series 3 is coming to BBC, having watched the edited highlights on TV3 earlier this year I am keen to see each episode in full. Particularly the last one which was shown the night of a torrential downpour meaning transmission was largely interrupted.

I have treated myself to a record player so I can listen to some of my old vinyl favourites. Many of old vinyls haven't really stood the test of time, Klaatu for example sounded awful when I played it again. However a real gem from my archives is the George Harrison produced album 'The Place I Love' by Splinter

Try doing a search for Splinter on Ebay and you get all manner of results that have nothing to do with this group. They seem lost in the void of time, and yet they were really good with a great hit Costafine Town. The music seems to be owned by The George Harrison Estate, so maybe his lovely wife Olivia would allow this fine album (with her much missed husband playing so fabulously with Bill Elliot and Bob Purvis) to be released on cd for the masses to enjoy once more

It was called Extreme Lighthousing by some, tearing across the waves to see lighthouses up close and personal. I thought it wouldn't be possible to show people the Bull Rock lighthouse when the Dursey cable car broke down. (Didn't expect that it would take all year to replace a cable!!) However it presented me with a challenge on how to get people to see the Bull Rock.... Speedboat was the answer and what fun it was. Find out more on my lighthouse website click here

July 2009

Water Flow

A new photographic exhibition

Click to view

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I wish Ubisoft would get its act together and sort out the disconnection problems of its online gaming. I thought it was just me being cut off but it appears to be everyone suffering because the Montreal based software company can't get it Far Cry 2 right

Special Offer

A2 canvas print (24x16 inches) €100 plus postage

A3 canvas print (16x12) €80 plus postage

Available on any picture on my website. No need for a frame, just hang it on the wall. Makes for an affordable present for that special occasion that will be greatly appreciated

On July 8th my show 'In Search of Little People' opens in Dungarvan at The Old Market Arts Centre.

I drove over there in June, taking 20 new oil paintings.

June 2009

I have just added some new aerial views of the western end of the Iveragh Peninsula. To view please click here

Realised an ambition June 3rd when I flew out to the Blasket Islands to re-take a picture of Inishtearaght that had been annoying me since I took it back in 1996.

The picture above was the shot in question, cut off on the right hand side. There was also an orange reflection problem as my survival suit was visible in the helicopter door. So I hoped that one day I would be able to do something about it and June 3rd my dream came true when I flew out there with the very kind assistance of The Commissioners of Irish Lights and Irish Helicopters pilot Cap. Peter Hodges. See picture below.

Click here to see more shots

May

A fan of The Beatles all my life, the only thing that kept me sane after the droll of boarding school life, I have collected most of their albums and films. The only one missing was Let It Be. I kept hoping it would appear tv. I just wanted to see it again after all these years. Finally gave up waiting this month and bought it off a guy in Australia. It was great to see the movie again, see the 4 rehearsing the songs and getting up on the roof only to have the law step in and shut them up. The dvd has its limitations in sound quality, but the picture has transferred well from video. Apple must have restored the video themselves because the parts of it that appeared on the Beatles Anthology looked great. They should release Let It Be properly on dvd.

I have been photographed by reknowned award winning photographer Peter Zoeller. He called to my house in April and took several shots of me in my studio. I am very happy with the pictures he took especially this one:

Portrait by Peter Zoeller

One of the things people ask me is, 'are you still painting?' like I would think of giving it up for some weird reason. I have probably been more productive in these past few months than at any time for a long while. I have a show coming up at the Old Market Arts Centre in Dungarvan opening July 8th so I am hardly going to be caught napping. Here is one of my new oils, painted during the past week.

The Way through the Forest, just follow the path and enjoy the journey

Yes, that's me behind compere Sean giving a wave

John Higgins, Jimmy White, Sean Murphy and Ken Doherty waiting to sign autographs after the event

Canon EOS 5D mk2 + EF 200 2.8

April

Wheat

For many years I suffered from ingrowing eye lashes, and would have trouble getting them pulled out. Many places, like opticians refused to do it in case their staff damaged my eyes. I usually had two, maybe three to be yanked out. I tried setting up my own series of mirrors and a pair of tweezers in a bid to do it myself. Nigh impossible. I got an appointment to go to Cork University Hospital, where the specialist told me in no uncertain terms that I did not have ingrowing eye lashes. I tried to argue, telling her I had had them pulled out on a regular basis. No point arguing with those people, all I was doing was running up a higher car park bill by staying at the hospital longer than I needed. So I wondered what on earth was wrong with me, and tried asking around. I had known for awhile that my body dumps sugar through my eye lids, a not very nice experience but my previous GP had the same problem. So I wondered if this might be adding to my problem and made stringent efforts to avoid anything sweet. The problem lessened but didn't go away. All this while I had eye tests and amazed doctors by reading the bottom line of the test chart. Then one day it hit me, yeah like straight between the eyes! lol. I had gone onto Ryvita to help lose weight, as friends had told me how much wheat adds to being heavy. I gave up eating bread, brown and white and within a couple of weeks my figure slimmed down. But not only did the figure slim down, my eyes became a whole lot better and for the first time in decades I felt my eyes watering again, meaning I no longer needed to use eye drops from bottles. I now knew for certain wheat causes the problem because I was in the local pub for a do and they brought round freshly cut sandwiches and within half an hour of eating them my eye lids became really sore again. Every now and then I treat myself to a slice of bread, but only to regret it. To be honest I don't think the yeast is helping much either, might be why I have trouble drinking things like Guinness and wine. So without bread and sweets my eyes are feeling a whole lot better, and the sensation of them watering up now and then is an experience I am enjoying all over again. Ryvita can be nice too, especially the variety with pumpkin seeds.

I will be releasing two new lighthouse postcards towards the end of this month, 2F and 3C. This is with the very kind assistance of Sue Hill at The Herons Cove in Goleen and will have the Mizen sponsorship on them. To see both click here 2 F is below

Fastnet 2 F

What I like about this one over the others is you can see the rocks on the right of the main one and it also has a boat in the background

Rang a friend at the weekend and found that like me she no longer watches the news, or reads newspapers. So I emailed a few more friends to ask them if they were doing the same. 'Oh, for months,' was the general reaction. If there are so many of us that are bored to tears with the way tv and newspapers doll out the economic drivial all the time why don't they cotton onto it and change to something we want to read and hear about? The day after the Irish Budget on April 7th I bought a newspaper to see what the Budget was all about and it made fairly depressing reading. Afterwards I asked myself, 'do I really need to read this shit?' The answer is most definitely NO. So apart from getting the Irish Times on Saturday, as I always do, (mainly for the excellant Magazine) I have not watched or read any news and my life is so much better. I no longer feel cast down thinking my life is going down the drain. Life has improved dramatically. So if you are a journalist or a newspaper baron, please take note of our reaction and quit reporting on the dull things like this so called economic downturn.

Here's a new oil from me. As the upheaval of life gets greater so does the size of the waves. These ones I am really pleased with, as I have got them actually flowing or at least they appear to. More of my seascapes can be viewed in Gallery 2 It has been said to me that people would not be out in such waves, but the point here is they were not rough waves when they started out fishing.

The Beara Camera Club, which I founded in 1991, holds exhibitions in Castletownbere's library window each month. A topic is selected and one can either choose a picture from file or go about taking a picture especially for each show. This month it is Hats and Shoes, and this got me thinking for a long while what I would do. It got the old grey matter churning in my head and I found it great fun to put something together. Below is a picture I concocted with help from Sharon Crowley in her boutique The Dressing Room, Castletownbere's leading ladies fashion wear shop.

Three Castle Head

Took some aerial photos of Three Castle Head on April 2nd 2009. This is a fascinating place, castle by a lake, cliffs and an ancient atmosphere. Click here to see my pictures.

Gorse

The new helicopter is fabulous, a Eurocopter 135, ever so comfortable and smooth to fly in. You can see samples of my new shots by clicking here

One of the things I fail to understand is the purpose of the donkety dong clock in 24 starring Keifer Sutherland. It makes a fierce racket, wakes me up from time to time. Ah maybe that's what its for, to keep us awake as we fall asleep during the padding bits like when the President is getting all lovey dovey with her long lost daughter. Or maybe the clock is there to warn us there is yet another tedious Sky 1 advert break coming up and its time to fast forward on the Sky + Jack tells us at the start of each episode that events occur in real time, not sure what this means either as there is absolutely no way this can be true. One minute the characters are here and before you know it they are all the way across town. They have no trouble getting through the traffic jams, maybe they don't have such things in America lol. When it was shown on BBC then it was in real time, but ever since it went to advert crazy Sky 1, where you only get 38 minutes of each 1 hour long episode, things have gone ape shit.

Great to see Formula 1 has moved to BBC, now we can watch it without being interupted to be told what baby wipes and tampons we need to get thru our lives!

I am now able to offer my prints in 7x5 inch format mounted in off white card, hand signed by me individually for just €9.95 + postage. Please click here to see them

I have oils in exhibition in the Eventide Gallery opening in Massachusettes USA, July 2nd.

Click here to watch video of me preparing my art work

June

I have been invited to exhibit oil paintings at the Eventide Gallery in Massachusetts, and hope to have some work hanging there in July

Took some new shots of the new Mizen Bridge

Click here to see more

The roads are empty, you can now drive for miles at peak times without meeting another car, just like it was in the 60s before people had cars. The Irish Government has us all locked down with heavy fuel tax. Petrol, like bags of coal, are now a luxury item. My question is: What good is this doing for the economy and morale when we are restricted from going out? How do you get Ireland moving again if we are not able to move? And why are those of us who had nothing to do with creating the economic crisis being punished for it?

May

Took some pictures of LE Niamh the Irish frigate in Castletownbere. To view more pictures please click here

Helen Joyce has welcomed me into her Kenmare gallery. I am really pleased because it is a lovely space to hang paintings and I feel truly honoured that she wants my work there. My thanks also to Sarah Walker for her recommendation to Helen Joyce of my work

April

My painting 'Morning Mist' hanging at the Millcove Gallery, Castletownbere, for the Beara Arts Show where it won the prestigious Sarah Walker Award

My 2011 brochure, please click on it to download the pdf

March

'Knockatee Boat' printed on canvas

I have long been a fan of Lucinda Williams. 'Essence' was one of my all time favourites, along with 'Sweet Old World'. I played 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road' until the cd wouldn't play anymore and ended up replacing it with the double cd collector's version. So it was that I was all ears when I heard Lu was bringing out a new cd 'Blessed'. To be honest I didn't think much of it on first couple of plays, but half a dozen plays later and I am totally hooked. This new cd is a masterpiece.

February

I went to Gran Canaria end of January for a week to get some much needed vitamin D. I have put a page of pictures up, click here if you would like to see them

A warning sign in San Nicolás, Gran Canaria, preventing you from most things

January

Happy New Decade to everyone

Not sure I care much for the loud music during the intervals between snooker matches. I suppose we have to put up with piped music almost everywhere but somehow it just doesn't seem the right thing at a snooker match

New Year resolution: Only watch the News after 15 minutes has passed cos that way you don't have to sit through all that depressing recession garbage which is no good for anyone. Avoid listening to it and you will be a happier person. Same with reading the newspapers, skip the front page!

December

My dog Suzie out on snow in Kilcatherine click here for more

Here is one of my favourite shots of the year, took it in Lauragh, Co. Kerry

For more please click here

November

We have had a large dollop of snow in Beara, I don't recall ever seeing snow this early in the year before.

For more pictures please click here

I have taken some new aerial pictures of the Skelligs. In the picture here you can see Skellig Michael in the foreground with Little Skellig beyond. To view more pictures and see the beehive monastic settlement from the air please click here

October

One of my pictures on the side of the Shellfish de la Mer lorries

Maulin

Eyeries

Eyeries

Coulagh Bay from Kilcatherine