Eye of Winter – The rising sun on this Winter Solstice morning over County Clare, Ireland.
The rising sun on this Winter Solstice Day appears as an eye peeking through a break in the morning cloud cover over the Shannon River Valley in County Clare, Ireland, as a leafless hedge hibernates in the Irish countryside.
On this first day of Winter, 2014, the sun rose over Ireland at 8:39 a.m. and set at 4:08 p.m., making it one of seven days with the least amount of daylight for the year by nine hours, 30 minutes.
The shortest days of the year in Ireland for 2014 have seven hours and 30 minutes of daylight from December 18 through the 24th, then each day will gain light until the Summer Solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year, with 17 hours of daylight.
