New photo competition: the bridges of Cork County
We're running a photography competition celebrating the bridges of Cork city and county, and there's a cash prize.
Did you know that County Cork has over 3,000 bridges?
This extraordinary fact was driven home when I was reporting on Cork County Council’s annual roads budget this week, when €1,867,122 was awarded for the maintenance of bridges county-wide.
From the stately grandeur of Patrick’s Bridge in Cork City to breathtaking engineering feats like Mizen Head Bridge, from dinky little humpback bridges on country lanes to modern interlopers like the city’s newest bridge, the Mary Elmes bridge, the bridges of Cork County (yes, that’s a nod to The Bridges of Madison County) represent hundreds of years of local history, architecture from the grand to the vernacular, and stories; countless human stories.
They are also things of beauty.
Photo competition open to all
So for the month of March, we’re running a photo competition celebrating the county’s bridges.
All you need to do is take a beautiful photo of a bridge in Cork city or county and send it to us. We can’t wait to find out what bridges you love, and why!
To get you budding snappers thinking, and without getting into the cliched terrain of the city’s fabled Shakey Bridge, here are three of our favourites:
Glanworth Bridge in North Cork, pictured above, has 13 arches, dates to the 15th century and is said to be the oldest - and narrowest - bridge still in daily use in Europe. Attempts to protect the bridge by stopping heavy vehicles from using it have been in the news this year, with persons unknown removing height restriction barriers.
Belvelly Bridge in Cork Harbour is another we’re particularly fond of. The three-arch bridge was constructed in 1803. We love it not only for its elegant sweep and the view of Belvelly Castle behind it, but also because of the weight of its history: as the only road access onto Great Island, during the height of the famine, thousands of people would have crossed it each week on their way to Cobh to emigrate. As many as 16,000 people per week between 1848 and 1851, when 2.5 million people left the country via Cobh: a migrant crisis on a scale that is difficult to imagine.
Those objecting to the Port of Cork’s plans to concentrate commercial port activities in Marino Point by 2040 are concerned about the impacts on traffic over the bridge, as we reported last October.
Poulgorm Bridge in Glandore may date to 1890, but is a decidedly modern looking lattice steel and concrete bridge. Spanning the inlet of Glandore Harbour, one of its charms is its double-width central section, the only point that cars can pass each other, making every crossing a game of chicken at a precarious height over the silty waters of the harbour.
How do I enter the competition?
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enter.
You can use any equipment you can get your hands on, smartphones included.
Just email us one medium to high resolution JPEG (we recommend between 72 and 300 PPI) of the photo you want to enter in the competition, with your name, contact details and a couple of lines about where and when the photo was taken.
We’d love to see photos of less well known bridges in particular.
Send your photo to tripeanddrisheen@substack.com.
Shortlisted photos will be featured in The Friday View each week on Tripe + Drisheen throughout April, with the winning image announced at the end of April.
What will I win?
You will win a €100 cash prize and your photo will be featured in an article about your work: you will be interviewed about your photography by one of the Tripe + Drisheen team for this.
Are there terms and conditions?
Of course, silly:
competition entrants must be over 16.
one competition entry per person: do NOT send multiple images.
the photo must be your own work.
the photo must feature a bridge located in Cork city or county.
competition opens on March 1 and closes at midnight on March 31.
By entering the competition you are giving Tripe + Drisheen permission to replicate your image on our website and social media if shortlisted.
the overall winner will be announced on April 30th, with the publication of the picture accompanied by an interview with the winner.