A Rua Ruth Year
Girls in Kimono in Japan and a rua red door in Dublin taken on a Photowalk in September.
It’s been a wonderful year here on Ruaruth and when I looked back over the thousands of photos I took in 2014 to create this post it really hit home just how amazing! Its quite cathartic doing a year in review and what I have found from this process is just how much I have enjoyed sharing my adventures: from fashion history discoveries, Dublin’s hidden gems, secret Sligo spots, my Lost Fashion History tours and things that inspired me from visits to Japan and Marrakesh. So here are my highlights of the year that was two thousand and fourteen- take a look with ruaruth-tinted glasses on!
The Gentlemens Club of St Stephens Green and Dublin’s oldest house.
I love writing about Dublin and sharing stories of the amazing stories hidden histories to be found behind doors we walk by every day. My top favourites this year has been getting to see the interior of some of Dublin’s most mysterious spaces. From The Gentlemen’s Club of St Stephens Green for Culture Night and Dublin’s oldest house with Open House in October. I also loved sharing my favourite Dublin haunts from the city’s Loveliest Loos, The Friends of the National Gallery, The Smiling Hedgehog of the Natural History Museum and the beautiful Angel of Grafton Street
Detail from a frock coat in Friends of the National Gallery and the Angel of Grafton Street.
This year I made my first foray to Asia with a trip to Japan. And what a trip, I got to rekindle with my oldest and bestest Sligo pal Sarah and sample the delights of the mesmerising cities of Tokyo and Kyoto where amongst many things I tasted the hospitality of the historic Ryokan Hiiragiya and saw women resplendent in Kimono walking the streets.
Me and Sarah in a Tokyo vintage store.
Flowers in the hallway of Ryokan Hiiragiya in Kyoto and women in Kimono on Pontocho, Kyoto.
Another wonderful highlight of the year was being nominated for two blogging awards: the Image Blog Award and The Blog Awards Ireland . I was and still am truly honoured to be in the running and to be in great company! As all bloggers know it is great to be acknowledged and to find out that there is somebody out there reading!
Sligo is my home county and it is truly surprising, as an undiscovered and breathtakingly beautiful part of the world, I really wanted to share some of its best kept secrets. From Benbulben’s Bluebell field and Sligo’s Secret Turret. This year sees a grand Yeats celebration in Sligo for 2015 so stay tuned for amazing things to do in Sligo I will be blogging about ready for you to discover this year.
Bluebells on Benbulben and The Secret Turret of Sligo, the Pollexfen Building.
I don’t blog very many photos of myself but was so happy to have Rincy from the blog A Little Bird capture me walking about one of my favourite parks Merrion Square, the results from her wonderful eye and that lovely summer’s day in the park are below and on my About Me page, thanks again Rincy.
Photos taken by Rincy from A Little Bird of me in Merrion Square.
The year also brought a return trip to Marrakesh with my two best friends. I had forgotten, believe it or not, about the colour and clamour of the souks of Marrakesh. I enjoyed a rose petal strewn Riad L’Orangeraie, Bountiful Breakfasts, Yves Saint Laurent’s exquisite Blue garden- Jardin Marjorelles and found out how to really buy a magic carpet in Morocco. There will be some more Morocco posts in 2015 so come back and visit!
Red yarn dries in The Dyer’s Market in Marrakesh. A chef at Stall 31 in Marrakesh wears a red cover-up serving up food on the Djema el–Fna.
When a best pal gets married, its a big event and Heather’s wedding to Niall in Oranmore Castle in September was a mystic Irish fairytale- and for me and everyone who attended the highlight of the year. I created Heather’s wedding flowers and what a pleasure to spend hours in her walled garden, and along hedgerows finding wild and garden flowers for her bouquet, marquee and ceremony. I love working with flowers and hope that another opportunity to create will cross my path in 2015.
My friend Heather Finn with her bouquet on her wedding day to Niall Flaherty at her home Oranmore Castle in September. For the bouquet I worked roses, heather, artichoke, lilac, montbretia, thistle and assorted feathers.
I was delighted to give more of my Lost Fashion History of Dublin tours this year. Particularly in association with The Merrion Square Network. I gave fashion history tours of the square for their Open Day in August and Christmas on the Square in December. It was such a joy to research, explore and show everyone how and what people wore in the stylish residences of this quintessential Georgian square.
Me giving a tour of the Lost Fashion History of Merrion Square as part of Christmas on the Square.
The year ended on a high note with a creative project I was thrilled to be a part of Man on Bridge– this photo history project incorporated an exhibition, a book and a documentary, the latter of which was broadcast on Sunday 28th December on RTE1. I played a small part contributing to this wonderful documentary by talking about the fashion history captured in the images of street-photographer Arthur Fields. For those of you who might not have come across Arthur he was a wonderful, if a little obsessed street photographer who took photos on O’Connell Bridge for over 50 years, here are some of my favourite photos below (To the left is Arthur Fields and the dancing lady of O’Connell Street and to the right a lady in headscarf from 1965). You can check out more of these photos and his story on the website here and watch the RTE1 Documentary here.
Heres to a wonderful 2015 y’all!
Images above by Arthur Fields, Man on Bridge.
All other photos by Ruth on Canon EOS 600D.