Patrick G. Ryan was keen on flying since he was four years old. His father was a flying instructor and from a young age Patrick was strapped into the passenger seat to fly with him; “My mother said that I would return from these flights with a great big smile on my face that went from ear to ear, and that it was very hard to get me back out of an aircraft.” In 1995 Patrick finally got his pilot’s licence. Even though Patrick moved to the United States, where he dedicated his time to photography and engineering, every time Patrick returned home to Ireland he would fly with his dad, and his camera always came along with him, taking photos from his bird’s-eye view.
His book, Clare’s Wild Atlantic Way: An Aerial Perspective of County Clare’s Extraordinary Coastline, is a collection of helicopter shots of County Clare’s breathtaking coastline. He saw this book as a “permanent record of the Clare coast as it is in the time that I live in, as seen through the eyes of a pilot and a photographer, and I hope it will be there for future generations.”
The book contains aerial photographs of the villages, residential and tourist areas of Clare, along with the breathtaking coastal landscape. The photographs capture some of the most stunning locations along Clare’s coastline; the Loop Head Peninsula, Mutton Island, O’Brien’s Bridge and the Cliffs of Moher are captured alongside villages, lighthouses, and the ruins of castles, forts and round towers. The pictures offer the reader stunning views of locations in a way they have never seen them before, and are accompanied by information about the areas, the history and attractions.
County Clare has never looked so good before, and these photographs capture the magnificent coastline that has always been a source of pride for Ireland. If you would like to explore Clare from above, Clare’s Wild Atlantic Way can be bought here.