Ireland’s unique coast captured in a gallery of beautiful images
Maria Quigley’s image 'Embrace the Water' of a swimmer on a freezing January morning at Coliemore Harbour won the overall winner of the Clean Coasts 2025 Love Your Coast photography competition.
Explore the natural beauty of Ireland’s coast as well as the marine life it supports in this stunning gallery of images taken by the finalists in Love Your Coast 2025.
Love your Coast is the annual photography competition hosted by Clean Coasts, an An Taisce programme that supports communities in caring for and protecting Ireland's coastline, waterways and marine life.
The photographers who have entered this competition, now in its 16th year, have a dual purpose in taking these stunning. While putting a spotlight on the natural beauty of the coast and marine life, they also remind us of the role that we all can play in helping to protect it.
The competition is just one of the many initiatives used by Clean Coasts to showcase Ireland's coastline and to remind us of how exposed nature can be to the impact of humankind.
And, of course, these are also just beautiful images to look at and enjoy.
Click on the ' Gallery' button below to see the 50 images in Love Your Coast 2025:
The LYC 2025 overall Photographer of the Year award went to Maria Quigley, for her image ‘Embrace the Water.’ The image also won the ‘Connecting with the Coast’ category. The image was captured at sunrise on a freezing January morning at Coliemore Harbour, a moment that radiates both the sting of cold and the calm release of a daily ritual.
Speaking on the image, Maria said: "Bobby swims daily all year-round, usually at Coliemore Harbour, his favourite spot. I took this photo on January 9th, 2025, when the sea was 7°C and ice covered the slipway. Bobby says missing a swim ruins his day. I was lucky to take the photo as the sun was rising at that time."
The images here are a selection of the finalists across five distinct categories: Coastal Landscape, Connecting with the Coast, Source to Sea, Wildlife and the Coast, Underwater.
For more info on Clean Coasts, see:
