The Old Head of Kinsale is home to one of the world's most spectacular golf courses. Covering the end of the peninsula itself, bounded by cliffs on all sides with only a narrow isthmus connecting it to the rest of the peninsula, it's a strange mixture of wilderness and manicured beauty.
There has been a lighthouse at the Old Head since 1665. The original building is still present and was a cottage type with an open fire on its roof. The current 40-foot tower was built in 1853.
This photograph was made near sunset on a late summer's evening. The view is to the north with the golf course and lighthouse in the foreground and Kinsale town on the main coast to the right of frame. The low angle of the sun creates dramatic shadows which show the beautiful sculpting of the golf course very clearly.
Made with an ultra-high resolution digital sensor, in a large print golfers can be clearly seen on the course.

Skellig Michael (Sceilig Mhichíl) is one of the jewels of Ireland's landscape and heritage. Seen here from a helicopter, the Small Skellig and Lemon Rock are also visible. Puffin Island, Valentia and Portmagee are all visible in the distance.
A double-pyramid of rock soaring up from the surface of the Atlantic, it houses two lighthouses (one decommissioned), a 6th century monastery and a hermitage from the same era.

The Fastnet is certainly Ireland’s finest lighthouse. Difficult to land on, and all but impossible to step from a boat for most of the year, this aerial view shows the typical angry sea that surrounds it.
Cape Clear Island is visible on the horizon, the closest point of land to the rock, often called the ‘Teardrop of Ireland’ as it was the last thing emigrants saw of their home country when sailing to America and Australia.

The Long Range can be described as either a wide river or a skinny lake, and it connects Muckross Lake and Lough Leane with the Upper Lake in Killarney. Flowing between the Eagle's Nest mountain and the Ring of Kerry road, it's a fine sight at any time.
This image, made from a helicopter on a fine summer's day, shows its meandering course westwards to the Upper Lake, nestled among the mountains.

Valentia is a large island just off the north coast of the Iveragh peninsula. Connected to the mainland by a bridge, it's a lovely place to visit and has some stunning scenery. This image was made while returning from the abortive attempt to land on Inishteareaght and shows the north coast of the island being battered by a storm.
It's a rare privilege to see this kind of weather in action from the air, so I'm pleased to be able to share it with you.

An Tiaracht is an island of many names. Also known as Inishtearaght, The Tearaght and Tearaght Island, all these names mean the same thing - 'The Westerly', or 'Westerly Island'. This is a pretty good description, as not only is it the westernmost of the Blasket Islands, it's also pretty much the westernmost point of Europe, with the exception of the nearby Foze Rocks.
In my opinion, the lighthouse on the island, which was constructed in 1870 and made automatic in 1988, is the most dramatic of any of the lighthouses around the coast. It's also one of the least well known as it's invisible from the mainland - sitting as it does on the western end of the rock.
The island is a pair of jagged, steep-sided pyramids reaching a maximum height of 656 feet above the sea. Joining them is a saddle pierced by a natural tunnel. The light itself is at a height of 275 feet on top of a 55 foot tower.
This image was made during a maintenance flight out to the lighthouse, but due to the stormy conditions we were unable to land. However, it did provide me an opportunity to photograph the island as it was pounded by an angry sea.