The winning photo of Howth Harbour Lighthouse, County Dublin, by Jonathan Baker.

Howth lighthouse image wins Irish round of international Wiki photo competition

A photo of Howth Harbour Lighthouse in Dublin has won this year's Irish round of the world's biggest photography competition, Wiki Loves Monuments.

The Irish edition of the Wiki Loves Monuments competition took place during September, the eighth year of the contest in Ireland.

Initiated by Wikimedia, the movement behind free encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and run in Ireland by the Wikimedia Community Ireland, the competition aims to raise awareness of Ireland’s national monuments and create a comprehensive crowd-sourced bank of quality photos that will be free for all to use.

Photographers of all levels were encouraged to photograph the national monuments and protected structures in their locality and upload their photos through www.wikilovesmonuments.ie.

This photo of Ross Castle, County Kerry, by Mark McGuire, was highly commended.

The entries were then judged by a panel from Ireland and the wider international Wikimedia community.

The Howth Harbour Lighthouse image by Jonathan Baker came in first place, with Piper's Stones, County Wicklow, by Mark McGuire coming in second and Knowth, County Meath by Mark McGuire in third place.

A number of other striking photos were highly commended, including depictions of The Old Library in Trinity College Dublin; Castle Folly in Heywood Gardens, Laois; and Ross Castle in Kerry.

* You can view all of the winning images here.