Steaming out of #Maynooth! The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s 4-4-0 former Great Northern Railways of Ireland Q-class loco No. 131 pulls ‘the Midlander’ back towards Dublin tender first along the #RoyalCanal between the thunderstorms!

The biggest and reddest Honeysuckle berries I’ve ever seen! These were gracing the #RoyalCanal towpath west of #Maynooth

Ivy-leafed Toadflax clinging to the pedestrian arch of Jackson’s Bridge along the #RoyalCanal towpath west of #Maynooth

An #IrishRail Commuter train leaving #Maynooth along the banks of a Lilly-pad-speckled #RoyalCanal in the rain. In Cavan where I grew up we referred this kind of warm drizzly ‘summer’ day as ‘a grand soft day’ — good for the grass!

One of the coolest insects that visits Ireland some summers is the Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) — they love butterfly bushes, and they really stand out because they feed while hovering, like a humming bird. This one was making the most of the butterfly garden at the library in #MaynoothUniversity #Maynooth

Without doubt the European Peacock (Aglais io) is our prettiest butterfly in Ireland. This beautiful example was illustrating why butterfly bushes are called butterfly bushes outside the library in #Maynooth University.

The biggest butterfly we have in Ireland is the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). With its striking red and white bands on its mostly black wings it really catches the eye. This one was making the most of the butterfly garden at the library in #Maynooth University.

With its ragged wings the Comma Butterfly (Polygonia c-album) is the most unusually shaped butterfly we have in Ireland. This is the first summer I’ve seen one in #Maynooth. This one was making the most of the butterfly garden at the Library in Maynooth University.

It’s a pretty miserable afternoon as this Irish Rail Commuter service runs along Lilly-pad-speckled Royal Canal having just left #Maynooth on it’s way to Dublin.

A White butterfly with distinctly buttery tones on the underside of the wings. Snapped with my iPhone in St. Patrick’s College in #Maynooth

A bumblebee feeding on a vibrantly purple thistle flower in #Maynooth

The Small Tortoiseshell is definitely one of our prettiest butterflies, and this one feeding on some lavender in a garden in #Maynooth is particularly vibrant.

The very strong winds are whipping the clouds into cool shapes over #Maynooth this morning. It’s always worth keeping and eye on the sky here when there’s a strong south easterly wind blowing over the Dublin/Wicklow mountains.

Wow — I don’t think a heron has ever been as blazé about my presence as this on on the #RoyalCanal at #Maynooth railway station just was!

A prickly beauty — a thistle in full bloom on waste land in front of Mariavilla in #Maynooth that will apparently soon host new apartments.

A Cabbage White Butterfly enjoying some Bramble nectar along the towpath of the #RoyalCanal near #Maynooth.

A pair of #IrishRail InterCity trains to and from Sligo meet along the leafy banks of the #RoyalCanal a little east of #Maynooth.

The bulrush seed heads along the #RoyalCanal near #Maynooth seem to be at their most dramatic now!

An #IrishRail InterCity service from Sligo to Dublin passing under Jackson’s Bridge along the very leafy banks of #RoyalCanal west of #Maynooth.

Both the pink and white Dog Roses are putting on an amazing show along the #RoyalCanal around #Maynooth.