Friday, 17 August 2018

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS and THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP

Time for The Weekend Roundup and Weekend Reflections and this week the letter is G and Great.  This post is mainly to show you the GREAT Telescope at Birr Castle which I will be showing a lot more of on Monday 10 September and Wednesday 12 September, however I start with a book I found and photographed, The GREAT Sea.




The rest of the photos were taken at Birr Castle, Co Offaly, Ireland and you can just see the GREAT castle to the left of this image above and one of the GATES below (posts on Birr Castle later) but for now just look at the GREAT meadow of buttercups and the GLORIOUS Peony flower.




My FAVOURITE


I  will tell you a little about THE GREAT TELESCOPE now however my main posts on it will be Monday & Wednesday of next week.


In the early 1840’s, the Third Earl of Rosse designed and built the largest telescope in the world. With this telescope, he discovered the spiral nature of some of the GALAXIES, and from 1845-1914, anyone wishing to witness this phenomenon had to come to Birr. And they came, in their hundreds, from across Europe and beyond, to observe the stars with Lord Rosse or simply to marvel at this feat of engineering in the middle of Ireland.




The Irish entry to the 2014 European Tree of the Year contest was the Birr Castle GREY Poplar (Populus x canescens).  They believe it is possibly the largest of its kind in the world. For many it is an astonishing landmark, a meeting place and a symbol of a GREAT arboretum in the heart of Ireland.  Unfortunately on 12 February 2014, while voting was still open, it was blown down in a storm.  Lastly my REFLECTION image.




Please remember to pop in on 10 and 12 September to hear the fascinating story and see more photographs of the 
GREAT Telescope at Birr Castle.

Thanks for visiting and also for your comments.

Have a GREAT weekend.

16 comments:

  1. Lovely images. As always the reflection particularly takes my fancy.
    Love that bloom too.

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  2. Amazing. Thanks for sharing all of this.

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  3. Hello, love the castle. The flowers and trees are lovely. Happy Friday, enjoy your day and weekend!

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  4. Beautiful images of the Great Telescope and yes, that is a beautiful bloom!

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  5. Yes, please. I would love to see more of the Great Telescope. Fine photos from the castle grounds.

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  6. Great photos! They made them well in the UK!

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  7. So sad that the poplar was blown down! But how wonderful that you got a picture of it! I love the drawing on the cover of your book. Wow, this telescope is s interesting! Beautiful flower, I believe it is a peony.

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  8. The telescope is fascinating, since my son has two scopes now and enjoys using the. Of course nothing of that size.

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  9. Nice reflection and what a beautiful tree!

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  10. ...Margaret, lots of 'G'reat 'G'lorious things to share this week. The 'G'reat telescope is amazing, as is that 'G'iant tree. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your week.

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  11. How cool to be able to visit and take pictures of a castle. The closest I've been is Hurst Castle in California and it isn't really a castle, merely called that. The flower is breathtaking. Will certainly stop by for more info on the great telescope. Interesting. Happy Saturday!

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  12. Hello Margaret, I enjoyed your Weekend Round Up. I agree that Peonies are glorious. Thank you for your visit and comment. Have a grand weekend!

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  13. I loved your pictures for the weekend and your very nice annotations. That Earl Rosse could design a telescope good enough for astronomy work was a GREAT accomplishment by itself, let alone it being the VERY GREATEST. I loved all the "Greats" and how you used them. I've pretty well visited all the countries on the Mediterranean and some of its islands. I think you have also.
    ..

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  14. I must search out that book about the Mediterranean, it looks very interesting. It is a lovely part of the world. The telescope looks a little too big for birding!

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  15. Hi Margaret, what a Great telescope, indeed. I must remember to check back to hear the rest of these stories in September. Hopefully you will remind us along the way. The tree was a giant and I LOVE the pink flower, too ♥
    Dawn

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