T. Michael Redmond

On this #caturday, some cartoons of Kilkenny Cats, Kilkenny city, Ireland.

St. Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, Ireland. A 14C church built on the site of an earlier monastery. Hence, the round tower.

Kilkenny Castle reflecting in the River Nore, Kilkenny, Ireland. This was the seat of the Butler family, Earls of Ormonde, who were among the most powerful of the Anglo-Norman families in medieval Ireland. Related to the Boleyn family and so to much of current British nobility and its royal family.

On this “Columbus Day” holiday, Leif Eiriksson, likely the first European to discover North America, ~500 years before Columbus discovered the West Indies. This is Leif’s statue in front of the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. Icelanders settled Greenland, from where Leif came.

Done!

“Here be dragons”. An old map of Iceland in our hotel. We didn’t see any of these!

Had a wonderful meal here tonight! A restaurant recommended by @samer.is.

Crossing from north to south on F35, the Kjölur route across the Icelandic highlands. We must have gone through 50 huge “water hazards” if we went through 1! The road was in need of a visit by the grader. Saw a Toyota Yaris en route, might still be there!

We are at Hvervellir hot springs on the Kjölur route across the Icelandic highlands. Were here 10 y ago but traveling S to N, now N to S. It was famous as the refuge of an 18C Icelandic outlaw. “Þfófadilir” translates as “the way of the thief”!

Gunnólfsvíkurfjall, the highest point in far northeast Iceland, near the village of Þórshöfn. If you zoom in you can see a NATO early warning station on the highest point.

Lýsi: A staple on every Icelandic breakfast buffet!

The 1875 explosion of the Askja caldera deposited vast quantities of pumice over much of eastern Iceland, evident in many areas. We drove through a huge desert of pumice to reach Askja. Utterly amazing! This ia a small pool covered with fragments of floating golden pumice.

Stuðlagil, the Alcantara Gorges of Iceland!

The view from our room In Möðrudalur of Herðubreið, the “Queen of Icelandic Mountains”. It is on the highest farm in Iceland. The whole area has vibes of Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

Où est la neige d’antan? The dry part of the Askja Caldera in central Iceland: There is 150 year old snow/ice buried beneath up to 2 or 3 meters of volcanic ash/pumice from the 1875 eruption of the Askja volcano. The ash insulates the snow/ice.

The aurora made an appearance tonight here in Myvatn, N. Iceland. The surprise was that the clouds present all day cleared up in the late evening and stayed away! iPhone photo…better ones on my proper camera.

A video from atop Hverfjall, a tuff cone near Myvatn, N. Iceland. Turn up sound to hear the wind blowing.

The 2 Presidents, a study in contrasts.

Had interesting convo with an engineer in Iceland’s power authority. He says that France with its nuclear is in effect supplying the inertial load for all of Europe. Europe has so much wind/solar that France is the “rock” that it depends upon! Iceland has so much hydro that it doesn’t need wind!

Always look up: interior of the Baroque dome of the Cartuja de Ara Christi, a former Carthusian monastery north of Valencia in Spain.

Rough Draft vs Final Draft

Due to bad electrical storms in Northern Europe we were late for our connection and spent the night in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is always a great place to see many of the last remaining 747s in passenger service.

Listening this morning to a discussion on “Morning Joe” re: price of oil. All were amazed that the price of a barrel was still in the $80s range but that gas is av. $4 or so. I was shouting at them it is refining! Why buy oil when refining capacity is way down, worldwide. Listen to Paul Krugman!

Tragic news! I am devastated at the loss of his huge talent and humanity. Glen Hansard, Frontman of Irish Band the Frames, Dies at 56 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/a...

An historic day in Irish sports history!Today, perennial contender Mayo overcame a 75 year drought, and an alleged priest’s curse, to finally win its first All-Ireland Football Championship and the Sam Maguire Trophy since 1951, beating the defending, and heretofore perennial, champions, Kerry.

An expired Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp. These are enormous– wingspan pushing 2 inches– but harmless to humans while murder to cicadas!

Something my wife bought at a sale at her glass studio for $5! Every single type of micro head you could imagine to tear anything electronic/photo down!

20 seconds of firefly sparking tonight with a fireworks soundtrack!

Notice to Vampires: Avoid this house in Maryland due to hazardous quantities of newly harvested garlic.

Switzerland gets the message.

An all black video capturing the song of a calling Eurasian Scops Owl. Listen in the middle for single mournful sounding hoots. Another attendee at a meeting in Mallorca who knew I was a birder mentioned that he was hearing this near his hotel. So I went to the vicinity and got this.

A Renault 4; Valldemosta, Balearic Islands, Spain. This car is an icon of my childhood. They assembled them in my hometown of Wexford, Ireland. You can still see them in places like Argentina or Morocco, still running. LIt must be 40 or 50 years old!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Hazy, zoomed in image of The Rising Sun, a 138 metre superyacht in Palma (where I am for a conference) Harbour. Owned by David Geffen, formerly owned by Larry Ellison.

Sóla is deaf. Her vet just confirmed our suspicions. No known cause. As a puppy she was taught verbal commands with sign language. Her sight is great so the vet said teach her to come with flashlights and lasers. Anyone got advice for helping a deaf dog? #Dogsofbluesky

For context, this is one hundred ninety-two thousand, five-year biomedical research grants. More than five years of complete funding for the entirety of the NIH for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, blindness, epilepsy, infectious diseases, etc… An entire generation of scientists.

One of my tasks in Ireland was to get decent marmalade and honey. This should keep us going for a year or so. Murder on luggage weight, though!

The High Cross of the Scriptures (ca 900 AD) at the preeminent Irish monastic site of Clonmacnoise founded 548 AD, from whence the “Isle of Saints and Scholars” sent missionaries to Dark Ages Europe to keep the flame of Christianity alive.

Made a sentimental journey back to a place where I spent a month when I was 13! Kids of that age are sent to do full immersion Irish in a gaeltacht area such as An Mhuiríoch on Dingle peninsula in SW Ireland. Went to several old haunts in the area. Many changes but mostly the same wonderful place.

For you paleontology fans, here is a ~400 MYO Devonian tetrapod trackway (one of 3 known worldwide) at Valentia Island in SW Ireland. It was made by one of the earliest amphibians on wet sand or mud.

We finally made it out to Skellig Michael and its 6C Christian monastery, off the coast of SW Ireland. A place we’ve always wanted to go, but weather, opportunity, etc., have always conspired… Surreal, spectacular; superlatives apply!! It hosted Luke Skywalker’s refuge in some Star Wars films.

For #caturday: Cats of Wexford, a moggy at the harbour.

Stained glass by Harry Clarke from 1914, in University College Cork, depicting St. Gobnait, a 6C Irish saint who is patron saint of bees, beekeepers, and ironworkers. Numerous bees and honeycombs are worked into the design. IMHO, Harry Clarke is one of the greatest Irish artists in any medium.

@bwjones.bsky.social Cork’s English Market. How I love me a market! Hands down, the best market in the whole of Ireland. Even by appointment to their British majesties!