Malahide, Co Dublin ... light pollution?

Greetings to my Irish buddies!

I received a promotional email from RyanAir due to my subscription and was taken away by the photo of the Malahide Castle they included in their promo letter.

I have a couple of questions for the group: how is the light pollution at Malahide just norrtheast of Dublin and is there public access to the exterior grounds around the castle for possible widefield work at night?

Hi Anthony.

Maybe some north side Dublin amateur astronomer would like to check out this particular site for some of us.

We are always interested in alternative observing sites in Ireland.

Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

Clear skies,

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey,

I had a look via Google Earth and there should be some workable darkness for widefield work owing to the fair amount of trees and open grounds. The estate itself is 260 acres in size from what I recall with lots of green all around.

With a slight placement to the right of the walkway leading to the main entrance, one should have the pole right over the center of the castle, thus leading to a very picturesque framing and composition.

RyanAir has really good deals which pop up here and there, thus making a quick trip to Dublin very much a doable excursion.

Before I forget, there is also a shipwreck on one of the beaches to the east of Dublin which I would love to visit as well (one all-nighter at Malahide and a second all-nighter at the beach with the shipwreck).

All we need is clear skies, Anthony.
We have had nothing but overcast conditions for the last 4 weeks continuously.
Paul and I visited Lough Dan on Friday night and all we had was a 100% cloudy sky.
As far as I can remember the last clear night we had on the east coast of Ireland was Saturday 1st October.
The only pleasing thing about it is we have had very little rain.

Aubrey.

No question clear skies is the #1 prerequisite.

Not that we are perfect with the weather here in the southeastern Mediterranean but our stretches of bad weather are certainly much shorter than yours.

I just checked my notes and the shipwreck I refer to above is about 1200 meters east of Baltray (County Louth) and literally on the beach. The ship was the M/V Irish Trader.

You can see the wreck on Google earth....if you have not done so already...