No sun today

We got no relief at all today from the dull, grey, wet, miserable, depressing weather. Rather than improving by evening, it got worse instead. What began as dull and overcast turned to light drizzle and then to heavier rain and then to heavier rain still with thunder added. So there was no late evening sunlight to lift the spirits today.

I'd bagged a few blipportunities earlier on, ranging from raindrops on a glass canopy to a mighty crane to an inspirational marketing message to a sad squashed bike to raindrops causing puddle ripples, but none of them quite cut the mustard. So it was back indoors for inspiration, and to good old reliable household items once again. It was touch and go between this one and a rather nice glazed bowl I keep small change in (all coins less than a euro get chucked in there every night), but Cúchullain won out eventually.

This is a small-scale (18.5 cm high) replica of Oliver Shepard's bronze statue of the legendary hero Cúchulainn which stands in the front window of the GPO in Dublin's O'Connell Street as a memorial to the participants of the 1916 Rising. The ancient Irish legend says that, when fatally wounded in battle, Cúchulainn tied himself to a pillar so that he might face his enemies even in death. Only when a raven perched on his shoulder did they dare to approach. The memorial was unveiled on Easter Sunday, 21st April 1935. The names of the seven signatories and the third paragraph of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic are inscribed on the plaque underneath the statue.