Winning entries for Dún na Sí World Wetlands Day 2021 photo competition

As part of World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2021, Dún na Sí Amenity and Heritage Park launched a photography competition asking people for their best personal photos of water courses, wetlands, and associated nature.

The competition was open to people of all ages from across the country (current pandemic restrictions were to be observed), and Dún na Sí received hundreds of entries.

World Wetlands Day falls in February each year with the purpose of raising global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and the planet.

This year, the theme was ‘Wetlands and Water’ and the campaign highlighted the contribution of wetlands to the quality and quantity of freshwater on the planet.

Dún na Sí is home to one of the few turloughs east of the River Shannon, a unique aspect of the park.

Also referred to as the ‘disappearing lake’, the turlough at Dún na Sí only fills with water in the winter, and disappears again by spring.

Due to their unusual environmental conditions, turloughs are a wonderful support to biodiversity.

The winning competition photograph was taken by Rachael Cregg, and second and third places, and a merit place, were awarded to Cristina Carrozzo, Caoimhe Tyndall, and Sylwia Kowalska respectively.

The winners received prizes including One4All vouchers and Dún na Sí annual car park passes and family memberships.

The competition was supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Dún na Sí would like to thank all of the entrants to the competition all of their entries can now be viewed and enjoyed on the Dún na Sí website at https://dunnasi.ie/news/world-wetlands-day-2021-photography-competition/.