August 11th, 1999:

It was billed as the astronomical event of the Millennium, and millions of people across the globe waited in anticipation for their glimpse at the last great eclipse of the 20th century. The shadow of totality would, said the experts, pass through Cornwall in England before heading on across Europe and eventually towards Turkey and on into the Middle East. However, thousands of people who travelled from all over the British Isles to see the eclipse at Cornwall, including the eminent TV astronomer Patrick Moore, were bitterly disappointed when cloud covered the whole affair.

Back in Ireland those of us who stayed at home were in for a real surprise as the clouds broke just in time to witness the Moon covering the Sun with just 11% of the sun left showing. Observers included a group of amateur astronomers from Astronomy Ireland who watched from the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

The photographs on this page were taken from Drogheda by Anthony Murphy. An overcast sky during the start of the eclipse looked like it would spoil the event, but with only 10 minutes to go to almost totality, the clouds began to break and, as can be seen from these magnificent photographs, provided a stunning scene as the Moon covered the Sun and darkened the landscape.

All of the photographs on this page were taken with a normal camera - a Pentax SLR, with an 80-320mm zoom lens and using ordinary 200ASA film. Only the photograph below has been digitally altered - all the rest have been left as they were.

The final moment!! This photo shows the Sun almost completely covered by the Moon, at approximately 11:10am BST on August 11th. Here only 11% of the Sun can be seen.