Pictures: Holly Bough challenge continues....

Mon, 15 Dec, 2025 - 06:41

Last year we boldly asked the question.. could 2025 be the year we would complete our Holly Bough tour of the USA?

Our quest to have readers send us their pictures from the States dates back for more than 20 years.

Back in 2022, my predecessor John Dolan wrote about the enduring success of the our picture gallery - at that time there were just nine states that readers had not visited. By 2023, that figure was five, and last year it was three.

Well, readers, you’ve done it.

Last year, I called on people to capture pictures in Wyoming, South Dakota and Oklahoma, and you delivered!

Neil Buckley at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

Neil Buckley sent us a fantastic picture from Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Thomas Buckley and Jane Molofsky made it to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, and finally, Justine McCarthy was in Oklahoma.

Thomas Buckley and Jane Molofsky in Wyoming.

And that’s not the only good news.

We’ve ticked another one off our card on the European countries left to visit with Deirdre Richardson’s visit to Andorra.

Jim and Katie Corbett in Puerto Natales, Southern Chile.

Five left to go:

Belarus
Moldova
Albania
North Macedonia
San Marino

We had not one, but two pictures from Antarctica!

Justine McCarthy outside 'The Palace on the Prairie' - Football Stadium of the University of Oklahoma Sooners in Oklahoma.

We’ve also received our first pictures from the Isle of Wight and Bristol.

Emma and Killian, both from Cork but living in Bristol, at the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Just nine more counties to go: Cumbria, Herefordshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Tyne and Wear, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.

SEND US YOUR PICTURES

The Holly Bough is quite the global phenomenon as evidenced by the pages of our annual picture gallery.

Each year we ask our readers to have a picture taken with the Holly Bough and to send it to us to share with our readers.

Claire Horgan visiting the king penguins in South Georgia.

If you would like to send us your pictures to appear in the 2026 Holly Bough, simply capture a snap in an interesting location with the publication and send your picture to one of the addresses below.

Deirdre Richardson nee Sheehan from Balineen and now living in Calgary in Canada with her husband Bill at Andorra la Vella.

Email: hollybough@theecho.ie or send your photos via our website echolive.ie/hollybough Post: Holly Bough, c/o The Echo, Linn Dubh, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork, Ireland Details: Please include the names of all the people pictured, the location, their links to Cork, as well as your contact details.

CLOSING DATE

The closing date for submissions for the 2026 edition is October 1, 2026.

Pictures: Holly Bough makes its way around the world