Thursday, March 26, 2009

My Town Shoot Out - Graveyards

Well, this week I made it, on time even. Earlier today I found out that one of the bloggers I follow has cancer, and it bums me out. I know he'll be ok and his path will be his, but still I wish there was more I could do. He is also a participant in the My Town Shoot Out Challenge, so send your good vibes his way!
This week is all about our home town graveyards. There is only one in Dublin, and it is behind Old St. Raymond's Church (which was a part of the Churches a few weeks ago). I have photographed many cemeteries, and I find them to be generally very peaceful places. They can sometimes be kind of spooky, and sometimes very sad but overall, I find them a great place to wander around.

Here is the sign at the official entrance:

The Historical Marker for the cemetery:

A shot of the back of St. Raymond's:

Some picnic tables along the creek, with a view of the graves:

One of the older and repaired headstones:

I think this is a lovely plot with the flagstone walkway and bench in the shade of a tree:

There are quite a few very large, very old trees that provide a mostly shady environment:

I found the difference in ground cover selection to be interesting:

I am fascinated by this iron cross and have taken several photos of it. In fact, every time I am here, I take a shot of it.

The founding families each have these carved wooden signs at their family plots. The signs detail the family origin and involvement in Dublin's history. I thought a slideshow would be a good way to show them to you:



As the majority of the founders were of Irish origin, I had this song going through my head the whole time:














I also wanted to include a few shots that were published in a book that included photos of National Cemeteries, and essays from famous Americans. I took these photos of Golden Gate National Cemetery and San Francisco National Cemetery. The profits from the book go toward scholarships for children of Veterans injured and killed in battle.

11 comments:

Barry said...

Wow! You've outdone yourself J9. And a slide show! What a great idea.

I also love the picnic tables in the cemetery. You are right about cemeteries being peaceful places and it is a shame we don't make more use of them.

I shot my photos on a weekend and didn't see a single person in any of the three cemeteries I visited.

Bagman and Butler said...

Barry's right...the slide show is magnificent. I also note that many times when people post very large numbers of photos, its usually because they didn't delete anything. But yours are all good. Quantity AND Quality...a rare and wonderful combination.

aurbie said...

Wow! And to think last week you were apologizing for having one photo for your shoot out - that cute little bird house.

When you make up you do make up, don't you?!

I loved what you did, and how you presented it.

I was especially interested in the picnic tables. I have never seen a picnic table at a cemetery.

Barry is right. We should make more use of these peaceful places.

J9, you did a beautiful job! Thanks.

I am going to go back and visit all the sites again. I will also hang out under your tress for awhile.

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

Great job! I like the iron cross as well.
The slide so is nice.

I see on your profile you work in communications...me too!
Thanks for checking out my pics..maybe next time I'll do better!

J9 said...

Barry - Thanks, and I think this is one of two cemeteries I've come across with picnic tables. There is never anyone in the cemetery at any time I am over there.

B&B - I actually had almost 60 shots from the cemetery, but only wanted the ones that I feel give a sense of the place.

Patty - Thanks for the kind words, and I am more passionalte about this topic than last week's. Next week's looks good though!

Noe Noe Girl - Thank-you and I look forward to seeing more from everyone in these challenges!

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Your shots are amazing J9 and we're all so happy that you joined the "Friday Shoot-Out".
WOW!!! You really have a lot of talent lady :)
Take good care, have a weekend filled with much love, joy and laughter and......

Steady On
Reggie Girl

J9 said...

Reggie Girl- Thanks for the welcome, and the lovely words!

Anonymous said...

Wow! The back of St. Raymond's church and the repaired stone are AWESOME.

Love it!

:)

J9 said...

Thank-you Jen!

Missy said...

You have a nice cemetery in your place, and nice shots. Thanks for dropping by my site.

J9 said...

Thank-you Missy!