Snapshots Donegal - meet the Grand Finalists and read the story behind the photographs

We had some amazing entries to our Snapshots competition. 

It has been a pleasure to go through each week's entries and see the variety of photographs, from social history and customs of times gone by to precious family memories and images of our beautiful Donegal landscape.

Thank you to each and every person who sent us a photograph and contributed to our weekly collection of Snapshots of Donegal.

These are our seven finalists.

This picture captures a wonderful moment in the life of a family of proud hurlers from Burt.
Taken in the 1960s before a big match, it captures three generations of the Whoriskey family: James (who is still living), his father Hugh and grandfather Johnny.
The image of the men united over a hurley stick was submitted by Illies woman Mary Devlin, who was given the picture by her mother Anna Whoriskey, a Burt native and brother of James.
Mary said: "My mother sadly passed away in December there, and she would have been so pleased to see this picture in the paper. She came from a family of 13 and all eight of her brothers would have played hurling for Donegal. She was so loyal to her family and that's really the reason I entered the photo into the competition, as with her not long passed I would be thinking away about her and about how much she loved her family.
"I thought it would be nice as well to see such a lovely picture get a bit of recognition, as it never would have been displayed before. It's so natural looking. Nobody is posing, they're all smiling and whoever took the photograph just caught them at the right time.

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Vincent O’Donnell has shared some wonderful photos of bygone days during our Snapshots competition. This photo made it through to our Grand Final. 
Vincent tells us: “I got my first camera at 12 and I have always loved taking photographs. I’ve been doing it all my life and I have thousands of pictures. 
“The man in this photograph is Patrick McDyre of Drimnakillew, Inver. He was my neighbour and I knew him well. I was passing his house one day and he was making a creel. I couldn’t resist taking a photo. In those days you had to be self-sufficient. If you needed something, you made it. Patrick was a lovely fellow and he was very handy. He could turn his hand to anything.

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This precious family photograph was sent in by Fergal Quinn. It was taken in 1974 by Fergal’s late father and shows brothers Fergal, Aidan and Brendan Quinn at Grianan of Aileach with Lough Swilly in the background. Brendan is the one mugging for the camera!
Fergal says: “My Dad was from Strabane and Mum was from Galway. They were both teachers. We grew up in Strabane but Dad loved the beauty of Donegal, especially up the mountains. At least once a month he would bring us to the Grianan of Aileach. We would climb about and look out over the views. For us it was a really magical place. 
"We also used to spend our holidays in Donegal. We had a caravan in Gweedore and we would stay there each July. We have fond memories of Donegal. I live in France now, Brendan is in Galway and Aidan lives in Bath in England but Donegal still has a certain magic for us and we visit at least once a year.
"This photo was originally a slide. After my father died, we digitised his slides and this was one of the photos that came up from that collection. Even though my parents are not in the photo, it brings them back because I know they were there."

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This photograph was submitted by Susan Hourihane and was taken by her husband Craig at Tullan Strand, Bundoran.
It captures a beautiful, carefree family moment that resonated with many of our readers. 
The photo shows Susan’s daughter Isabella and their dog Daisy playing in the sand dunes at Bundoran.
Susan tells us: “My husband is from Bundoran and that is where we live now. 
“We really love being out in the dunes. It is a fantastic wilderness right on our doorstep.”

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Thanks to Liam Kenny for this stunning sunrise. Liam tells us that he took this photo of the summit of Carnaween in the Bluestack Mountains, the highest point in the parish of Inver, in January.
Carnaween is a distinctive peak and a local landmark in south Donegal. But it also has much folklore, history and heritage associated with it.
Liam’s photo captures the incredible natural beauty of the mountain as well as the deep spiritual resonance that it holds for many people in the area.

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This photo of well-known Killybegs man Frankie Murrin was submitted by Catherine Murrin.
It was part of a series of three photos which showed its placement in a preview brochure that was printed in the UK prior to the 1994 World Cup. 
As well as being a fantastically colourful photo in its own right, it captures perfectly the excitement and atmosphere that gripped Ireland ahead of USA '94. 
It was a popular choice with our readers, no doubt stirring up some great memories.

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An airplane in Mountcharles would certainly have been a most unusual sight. 
Fortunately when this plane arrived at the Big Pier, Owen Gillespie was on hand to capture the moment in this wonderful photograph.
It shows some well-known people from the Mountcharles area who went along to take a look.
The children peeking out from under the wings in the background really add charm to this unique Shapshot which was submitted by Alice Kelly.
Pictured along with the pilot are Hugh Harley, Kathleen Carr, Ann Meehan and Josie McGrory.

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To vote for your favourite, click here