Celtic Challenge

The 2018 Celtic Challenge will be hosted by the Northern Ireland PA. To be held on Saturday 13th October 2018, at The Strangford Arms Hotel, 90-92 Church Street Newtownards, Co Down BT23 4AL

Invitation from THE NORTHERN IRELAND PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION

We are delighted to host the Celtic Challenge 2018 and to be able to return the hospitality we have enjoyed from our friends in the ‘Celtic’ group of Federations, Associations and Societies. We hope you will join us over the weekend of 13th-14th October for the Celtic Challenge Competition 2018.

Any SPF Club member interested in attending would be made very welcome. Contact Libby ASAP if interested or go direct to the organiser Anne Given (details below).

The Competition and Awards Dinner will be held in the Strangford Arms Hotel, Newtownards, which is 11 miles from Belfast. Flights are available with several airlines and from many regional airports to George Best City Airport or Belfast International Airport. Ferries are available from Liverpool, Cairnryan and Douglas IoM. If you are arriving by plane, and do not intend to hire a car, we may be able to arrange transportation. Please contact me before 1st September to discuss.

The Hotel Conference rates are: B&B(single occupancy) £64 per night; B&B(double occupancy) £74 per night; Accommodation bookings should be made with the hotel, quoting ‘NIPA Conference’ to secure the special rates: info@.strangfordhotel.com +44 (0)28 9181 4141

Awards Dinner £30 per person: Please let me know by 1st September if you wish to attend.

The hotel is well-situated for visiting the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, Mount Stewart (National Trust) and exploring the landscapes of County Down. We will offer some self-guide tour information and some of our members will be available to show people around on Saturday morning and Sunday. Full details of the event, timetable and suggestions for outings will be sent out in early May. Meanwhile, if you have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact me: Annie Given annie.given [at] ntlworld.com

This event was conceived in 1995 over a small libation, in a pub in Drogheda, by the late, great, Sean Casey of the Irish Photographic Federation chatting with Rod Wheelans from Scotland. The first was held in Dublin in 1996 and it became a regular annual get together.

Sean procured an Irish Crystal Bowl and Rod had an elegant wooden base turned for it and this trophy should be presented for the 20th time in Scotland next year.

Although the standard of photography is high, the competition is informal and it’s more about the social occasion and the craic.

There are generally six Celtic peoples recognized in the world today. They divide into two groups, the Brythonic (or British) Celts, and the Gaelic Celts. The Brythonic Celts are the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons; the Gaels are the Irish, Scots and Manx.

All of these have participated over the years, although the Bretons have not been able to enter recently. (Some people recognize a seventh Celtic nation in the region of Galicia in Spain although their Celtic language died out a thousand years ago, and so their Celtic links are more tenuous.)

Members of any Scottish Club are eligible to submit entries for all three categories for consideration as part of the SPF's entry. We will select our strongest entry from those available to us. Simply look out for details of the next event here, and our SPF details and deadline for entries to be submitted.

SPF Clubs and Individual members cannot submit directly to the Celtic Challenge. Entries must come to the SPF first for selection.

Details will appear here shortly once our online entry upload facility is open. Before then please feel free to contact Libby Smith for details.

The Scottish Photographic Federation were delighted to host the Celtic Challenge 2017. We caught up with the many friends we have in the ‘Celtic’ group of Federations, Associations and Societies, over the weekend of 18th and 19th Nov 2017, at the Judging of the Celtic Challenge Competition 2017. The main events took place on Saturday 18th November 2017 at Stirling Court Hotel.

The Celtic Challenge Competition was held in the afternoon, the Judges were Phil and Gwen Charnock from L&CPU. This was followed by the Celtic Challenge Print Lecture by Colin Trow-Poole MPAGB, FRPS, FIPF. The day ended with the Celtic Challenge Dinner and Awards Presentations.

You can find out the results of this event by visiting the dedicated webpage (click here) where you will also find a link to the gallery of the SPF's winning images.