THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
PETER LARKIN TALKS TO MARGARET RODDY ABOUT USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SHARE THE BEAUTY OF CARLINGFORD LOUGH AND THE COOLEY PENINSULA
One of Louth’s most popular Facebook pages is the Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Peninsula page which showcases the beauty of this part of the north east.
Founded by Peter Larkin and Ann Bruen, the page has over 26,000 followers with fans from all over the world. The pair, who went to school together in St Michael’s, Omeath, have developed the page to share their love of their native area.
While they also work together in Metrifit - the company they founded in 2010 which allows coaches to monitor their athlete’s health and well-being, with clients across the world - the Facebook page is a real labour of love.
Peter is from Greenore, where he is a member of the Greenore Coast Guards, and Ann is originally from Omeath but now lives in north Dublin.
She is usually a regular visitor in Omeath where her Mum, Peggy Bruen and other family members still live.
It was Peter who came up with the idea of using social media to showcase the area with photographs and news. Initially he started the twitter account (@carlingfordire) and in 2016 along with Ann, set up the Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Peninsula Facebook page with an Instagram account a few years later.
‘We started slowly and noticed a gap or a need for a page to promote and showcase the area around Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Peninsula,’ explains Peter. ‘ We both enjoy photography, local history, nature and hiking so information from the area, local history and news became part of what we share.’
‘We also developed an accompanying website www.lochcairlinn. com where we include information about the towns and villages around Carlingford Lough, places to visit, things to do and a gallery of photographs. Over the years we generated more interest and built our following mostly organically. All our photographs, videos, website have been developed and maintained by ourselves with some help from Ann’s husband Roland Hollman.’
They feature not just their own photographs but also those taken by professional and amateur photographers, which nowadays amounts to anyone with a smartphone and ‘a good eye’, which they share. This allows them to showcase the beauty of the whole area along Carlingford Lough including the stunning Mourne mountains, which inspired CS Lewis’ Narnia, as well as the coastal towns of Newry, Warrenpoint, Rostrevour, Greencastle and Kilkeel.
‘ There are some amazing photographers around – both professional and amateur- and with the beautiful Cooley Mountains and majestic Mournes there is incredible scenery to be shared,’ says Peter. ‘More and more people are sending in their photos and it is great to see them get over 1,000 likes in some cases.’
‘We also select a photo of the week, each week and post these on our website as well as sharing across all our pages/ The photo usually includes some information about the photographer and the photo / location of the photo. A big shout out to all the photographers featured there – the photos really are stunning.’
‘Sunrises, sunsets, spectacular moons, amazing views all attract a lot of interaction and you never know just when a post is going to take off.’
Greenore’s resident dolphin Finn naturally generates a lot of interest and Peter has managed to get some lovely photos of him while out on the coastguard boat.
‘We have been in contact with Liz Sandeman from Marine Connection and she has kindly compiled some additional information about Finn for us that we are sharing. The aim is to help educate others on how the dolphin should be treated and respected.’ This is particularly important as Finn’s fame grows and he may become a tourist attraction in his own right like Fungie who helped put Dingle on the map.
They give all the photographers who submit the work with a credit and all photos without a credit have usually been taken by Peter or Ann. During the various periods of lockdown when travelling is restricted, the task of taking these photos has fallen on Peter, not that he is complaining, as he enjoys being behind the camera, chasing the light to get that special shot.
‘It’s not just photographs which they post, even though they are the what draws people to the page, but also news and information about the area.
‘We post many different types of information, facts about the towns and villages of the area, things to do, news and chit chat,’ says Peter.
‘It not always possible to get news from the whole area so we rely a lot on our followers to send in the information. We get daily messages across all platforms and really appreciate the community we have built up through social media. Facebook currently has our largest following with over 26,000 followers. We have over 6,000 on twitter and almost 4,500 on Instagram.’
They have followers all over the world, many of whom have a connection with the area and appreciate being able to see views of their native area or their ancestral homeland.
‘ The majority are in Ireland and the UK but we have a sizeable following from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as smaller followings in over 40 other countries. The town with most of our followers on Facebook is Newry with 4,388, followed by Dundalk with 2,912 and then Dublin with 2,189.’
‘Lots of our followers have a connection with the area or just like to admire the photographs and information posted. We have received some amazing feedback and beautiful messages from
followers saying how much they like the page and how they love seeing all the photographs.
‘ This has become even more obvious during recent lockdowns where people who usually visit the area have not been able to. Many of them have thanked us for keeping them posted and bringing the beautiful scenery that they miss to them.
There’s a real community spirit among followers of the page as can be seen from the comments on posts.
‘We get feedback on a daily basis praising the photos or just engaging and leaving pleasant comments about the area which is great – especially for people who want to reconnect and see updates from home or their area.
‘We are often asked to share information from everything from lost dogs, long lost loves to new ventures in the area. It is amazing how fast and supportive followers are when a post needs to be shared for people in need.’
Lockdown has meant that over the past year Peter and Ann have not been able to travel as much as we would have liked to get new photographs, or build up their gallery for other areas that they want to include on thier ‘ Places to visit’ and ‘ Things to do’ sections on the website.
Over the next while as restrictions lift, they plan on further developing the website to increase awareness of the beautiful scenery and history around the Carlingford Lough and Cooley Peninsula areas, covering both north and south, giving people have a platform that they can become involved in through sharing photos and stories.
One of their followers, Frank Patterson, a Newry man who lives in Belgium summed up the appeal of the Facebook page and website when he wrote to them saying:
‘I have just spen t a wonderful afternoon enjoying your wonderful photos taken around North Louth, South Armagh and Down. What a beautiful area and what talented photographers and webmasters. Comghairdeachas. I am a Newry man myself. Although I have worked in Brussels for over 40 years, I still make regular trips back to Ireland and I make a point of visiting both sides of Carlingford Lough, the stunning Cooley Peninsula and the beautiful coastal road between Warrenpoint and Kilkeel. I look forward to coming back again when the current nightmare ends.