Wexford photographs shine in Clean Coasts Love Your Coast competition

A photograph taken beneath the waters off Hook Head has secured first place in the Underwater category of the 2026 Clean Coasts Love Your Coast Photography Competition.

The winning image, titled “World’s Best Dad”, was captured by photographer Éabha Hughes at the Girl Arlene shipwreck off Hook Head, County Wexford.

The photograph shows a male butterfly blenny fish protecting its eggs inside a rusting pipe nearly 30 metres below the surface.

Éabha said the significance of the image only became clear when reviewing the photographs afterwards, discovering the fish was carefully guarding its eggs.

The annual Love Your Coast competition celebrates Ireland’s coastal environment and this year attracted more than 1,100 entries from amateur photographers across the country.

The 2026 theme was “Impact”, highlighting the relationship between people and nature and the importance of protecting Ireland’s coastal and marine environments.

Wexford featured strongly in this year’s competition, with three local photographs making the shortlist across two categories.

As well as Éabha Hughes’ winning image, Ivan Donoghue placed third in the Underwater category with “Trinity: Spidercrab, Diver and Shipwreck”, taken off the coast of the Saltee Islands.

The image captures a spider crab, diver and shipwreck coming together in an unusual underwater scene.

Photographer Pat Somers was also a finalist in the Wildlife and the Coast category with “Common Green Shieldbug Caught Out in a Shower”, taken at Ferrybank in Wexford town.