Game of Thrones Icons

You have probably heard of Game of Thrones? Before the popular series Outlander and Yellowstone sky rocketed in popularity, Game of Thrones was THE series everyone was talking about. I have heard of it…who hasn’t, right? I must admit that I haven’t watched all the episodes…but very early in the series, I couldn’t stop saying to myself: Where are all those beautiful scenes from that epic television series? A couple of scenes were filmed in Spain, others in Iceland…I heard that they even came to the Canadian Rockies to film some of the series’ episodes. WOW! I didn’t know that! But a big majority of the series was filmed in Northern Ireland, at many of the locations I recently visited during my latest trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In this article, I will mostly talk about the locations themselves and my artistic vision of them. I will also be talking about how I composed them or some behind the scenes stuff… Even though these locations were featured in some episodes of Game of Thrones, I don’t have the required knowledge to be able to tell which season each location was from; Season 2, Episode 8, minute xxxx…. I will leave that part to you! You can research when they were featured in the series.

THE DARK HEDGES

The Dark Hedges, featured as the King’s Road is a place that gives me chills every time I see it. That place is so magical and mysterious. To tell you how this location was created, a wealthy gentleman decided to plant beech trees along Bregaph Road some four hundred years ago simply to impress his visitors. And guess what, it worked because we, 400 years later, are still impressed by what he did! Some legends about this location are circulating…one of which tells that this gentleman’s wife’s ghost is roaming along Bregaph Road during the night… I didn’t notice the presence of any ghost but I sincerely think the legend is cool.

The sad reality of The Dark Hedges is that the trees are getting old. Year after year, some trees break, others fall on the road resulting in an icon that keeps degrading to a point that it’s a matter of years before they are all gone. One thing that angers me so much is to see how people engraved their names into the bark over the years. Why do people have to sabotage such an iconic location? Why?

When photographing The Dark Hedges, I highly recommend using longer focal lengths. Anything from 70mm to 200mm will work nicely if you want to compress the scene and camouflage the fact that some trees are missing. The cherry on top of the sundae is to be lucky enough to be there on a foggy morning! When we got out of the Airbnb on that morning, I was seeing thick fog everywhere. My heart instantly leapt! I had been dreaming of photographing The Dark Hedges with fog for 10 years! We changed our plans and went there instead of our initially planned location. As we were driving closer, the fog was becoming thicker and then all of a sudden, 500 meters away, the fog disappeared! It was a real roller coaster of emotions… From excitement to pure deception. We started photographing dawn, then sunrise and 30 minutes later, the fog drifted into The Dark Hedges. BOOM! I was finally going to get an image I had been dreaming about for years!

FAIRHEAD CLIFFS

Fairhead Cliffs, featured as Dragonstone Cliffs. We often talk about Giant’s Causeway as THE place to see basalt columns in Northern Ireland…let me tell you something folks, Fairhead is such an impressive sight of rock formations. I am not sure I have ever seen basalt columns that were that tall. Oh My God! What a view. I am not even sure the place is all that well known among tourists. We went there for a sunset… It is located on a private property but the land owner shares his land with people. We paid five British Pounds to have access to the property and the short walk to get there is fairly easy. We were surrounded by Irish sheep. Why do I call them Irish sheep? Well, they are in Ireland so they are Irish to me!

After a fairly straightforward walk, I wouldn’t even call that one a hike…it’s a walk, we arrived near the cliffs and the view unveiled itself. One quick look to the north and we could see Rathlin Island and Scotland. Then another quick look towards the west and we could see a long way past Ballycastle. As the sun was setting, the rich warm light was barely kissing the cliff walls and unveiling some pretty dramatic texture. It became a definitive new favorite of mine!

DUNLUCE CASTLE

Dunluce Castle, featured as Pyke Castle, is almost a stone throw away from Portrush. It could be walking distance from the city if you like to walk no more than a couple of kilometers. Dunluce Castle was love at first sight for me. What an amazing ruin! One thing I must admit, back in the 1500s, they had really good taste and skills for finding the most epic views to build their castles. Strategically speaking, since this one is fairly high up the cliff, it makes access to it more difficult for the undesirables back then. Over the years, the cliffs slowly degraded and started falling apart which resulted in some parts of the castle falling into the ocean.

It is greatly saddening that the most beautiful view over Dunluce Castle, the one from the image below isn’t available. We can no longer access that beach and photograph the castle while looking up at it. I truly loved looking up at that castle as it made it THE star of the show. Photographing it with just the right amount of waves and water motion in the foreground was sure to offer a spectacle to be remembered forever.

There is now obviously a plan B solution to photographing Dunluce Castle. Right across the small bay, there is a farmer’s field which can be accessed upon request. The farmer posted his phone number on a sign and if you simply ring him and ask for permission, you can have access to his property and have a really cool view over Dunluce Castle. Even though it isn’t the epic view from down on the beach, it is still a pretty sweet memory to bring home.

TOLLYMORE FOREST PARK

Tollymore Forest Park, featured in Game of Thrones as The Haunted Forest. It is a truly lovely forest. It is part of the National Trust which would compare to a National Monument or a National Forest in North America. How can I not visit Tollymore Forest Park when I visit Northern Ireland. I normally visit the forest on the drive back to Dublin. A full day there is a must to me. The Shimna River is the main river along which you will walk and there are a couple of really interesting man made elements to photograph.

The first one is also a favorite of mine. Foley's Bridge was built in 1787 and still hangs out there nicely. You can’t tell it is that old. It was built to simply cross the Shimna river…overbuilt? Maybe…beautiful? Absolutely! When I visit Tollymore Forest Park, I always carry my waders with me. They allow me to open a wide creative potential. I can setup my tripod while standing comfortably in the river without the worry of falling.

In the park, there are two other features among many others that are truly worth photographing. They are known as the Stepping Stones. They are also a way to cross the Shimna river…but I’d describe it as a much more affordable crossing compared to Foley Bridge… One set of stepping stones is fairly close to the parking lot while the second one requires a bit more walking. Once again, I like to stand with both feet in the water and get a slightly lower view on the main subject: The Stepping Stones. The water level that day was fairly low which unveiled some really cool rocks to use as a foreground. I truly loved that they are all pointing into the frame at the main subject.

BALLINTOY HARBOUR

Ballintoy Harbour, featured in the series as The Iron Islands is such a lovely area to visit. The historical harbour has been very well maintained and is a favorite location among the crowd that visits Northern Ireland. Even though I really enjoy seeing the harbour and learning about its rich history, I don’t spend that much time there. I prefer to walk along the beach towards the west. At some point, it will be required to walk over a couple of fences which prevent the Irish sheep from roaming too far from their respective lot. And then, you will see a first Sea Arch: Dunnaglea Rock Formation. I love to photograph that one near high tide. Continue walking further until you reach Balintoy Sea Arch and Elephant Rock. You probably guessed it right…Elephant Rock looks like an elephant…

Ballintoy Sea Arch is a lovely small arch right next to its sister sea stack. And under the right tide conditions, it is a truly lovely place to photograph. On that specific day, the sky was a bit on the dark and moody side and I wanted to show Gina the whole area’s photographic potential. As I was walking there, I noticed that the tide was really good for what I had wanted for years…so I decided to put on my waders and capture a few images of the arch. The ocean was becoming a bit more aggressive as a storm was getting closer, resulting in some nice waves crashing against the arch and it’s sister rock formation.

MUSSENDEN TEMPLE

Mussenden Temple coming in as one of my favorite locations in Northern Ireland was featured as Dragonstone in Game of Thrones. The temple itself is so nicely located on a large property which now belongs to The National Trust. It is a National Monument just like Downhill Mansion. Downhill house was a beautiful mansion built during the 18th century for Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. He was a pretty wealthy gentleman. Sadly, it was destroyed by a huge fire in 1851, then rebuilt in 1870 to later fall back into disrepair after the Second World War. I heard stories that to avoid paying hefty city taxes, the removed the roof and let the house degrade on its own. One thing is for sure, one walk inside the house is more than enough to visualize how beautiful it must have been in it’s prime!

Mussenden Temple was built around 1780 as part of the Downhill Demesne. It was initially built to be used as a library with a view high over the Atlantic Ocean. What a cool place to read a book! Right? It was also modeled from the Temple of Vesta in the Forum Romanum in Rome. Many years ago, it was possible to drive a horse carriage behind the temple. The coastal erosion will eventually became the cause of the destruction of the Mussenden Temple but until then, it will remain as one of the most photographed places in Northern Ireland.

…IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I am barely touching the tip of the iceberg here…there are many other locations that were featured in Game of Thrones and in one week, there’s only so much you can do and see. I will definitely need another trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland to see more featured locations and then later produce a second article of this kind!

Sure there are much more than just Game of Thrones filming locations to see in Northern Ireland and Ireland all together. I previously wrote an article that talks about What Is There To See In Ireland…click on the link to read the article. It is as equally interesting as this one. And trust me, I am not being biased here…I am just telling the whole truth! Enjoy!