Brendan Connolly 

Ireland’s countryside can roughly be divided into fertile alkaline lowlands and poor acidic uplands. The rivers and lakes of these two contrasting landscapes are also either alkaline,and rich in nutrients, or acidic and nutrient poor. The heather and gorse-covered hills of the west of Ireland are not fertile but they are very scenic, with glittering lakes and rivers adding an exotic sparkle to this rugged landscape.

An upland trout; small but mature

Walking on blanket bog, one can cross the brow of a hill and suddenly look down on a quiet lake, cradled between rough hillsides, wild and unaffected by modern development. These small lakes appear so untouched you feel as if you have just made a discovery. Their dark surfaces exude a calm that seems to have been undisturbed since the last Ice Age.

Tim Magennis

Of the 700 U-boats sunk during WWII it is estimated that approximately 60 were lost in the waters surrounding Ireland. 116 subs that survived the war ended up there too.

One of the many stunning photographs shows the mass of surrendered craft that were herded into Lough Foyle prior to being towed out between November 1945 and February 1946 to the Northern Approaches ̵ 120 miles northwest of the Donegal coast ̵ and put to the bottom. In total, between 30,000 ̵ 40,000 mainly young German submariners gave their lives.

By its very nature, the work being done in coastal and ocean surveying in general in Ireland does not lend itself to easy or accurate translation for the understanding of the public at large. It can be technical and not easily translated into readily understood language. This is unfortunate because in its short life – a mere 12 years – it has been acclaimed by people who know what they are talking about [that the project is] the finest of its type currently being undertaken anywhere in the world.