Navan man's photo wins 'Heartbeat of Home' competition

Navan photographer Feargal Duffy has been awarded the top prize in Bord Gáis Energy’s 'Heartbeat of Home' photography competition. The amateur photographer’s stunning landscape image of haystacks set against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean was taken in the redeveloped pre-Famine village of Cill Rialaig at Ballinskelligs, County Kerry.

Bord Gáis Energy launched the national photography competition to celebrate the world premiere of Brian Byrne's Heartbeat of Home at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. The energy provider called on budding photographers to capture what the ‘Heartbeat of Home’ meant to them to be in with a chance to win a VIP trip to Chicago next March.

Feargal said: “I am absolutely delighted to have won Bord Gáis Energy’s Heartbeat of Home photography competition. I got a camera from my sisters a few years ago and have been snapping ever since. I took this photograph two summers ago while visiting my mother in Co Kerry. I have done a lot of travelling but Ballingskelligs is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. My family and I love the area and visit at least twice a year. It means a lot to me as it is where my mother was born and we named our first son, Finan, after Finan’s Bay which is just around the corner from where this picture was taken”.

This image is one of the very few scenic shots I have taken. I usually only take pictures of friends and family, but I was inspired by the area and the beautiful village of Cill Rialaig and the result is one of the best pictures I have ever taken”.