IRELAND HAS TAKEN part in the world’s largest photography contest (as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records) for the first time this year.

Wiki Loves Monuments is an international competition, organised by Wikimedia (the movement behind Wikipedia), which has inspired hundreds of thousands of freely-licensed images to be uploaded to the internet.

According to Wikimedia, cultural heritage is an important part of the knowledge that it collects and disseminates.

“An image is worth a thousand words, in any language and local enthusiasts can (re)discover the cultural, historical, or scientific significance of their neighbourhood,” it says of the competition.

The Irish contest, focussing on a selection of Ireland’s national monuments, ran from 23 August to 30 September. Winners were announced last week and they will now go on to compete internationally.

Here are the 10 Irish winners….

Rathgall

Simon Dowling Simon Dowling

Rock of Cashel

DeeMayKay DeeMayKay

Loughcrew Passage Tomb

Stephen Keaveny Stephen Keaveny

Durrow Abbey

Dalenevada Dalenevada

Ballymoon Castle (tied in fifth place)

Poleary91 Poleary91

Kilmainham Gaol (tied in fifth place)

Antonio Camelo Antonio Camelo

St Finbarre’s Cathedral

The Speckled Bird The Speckled Bird

Sheepgate

Pullandbang Pullandbang

Ross Castle

Digital Eye Digital Eye

Dunamase Castle

Rafal Zabron Rafal Zabron

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