The Towering Bonfires of ‘Eleventh Night’ in Northern Ireland [Updated]

Eleventh Night is an annual Protestant commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne held in Northern Island, most notably involving the creation of towering bonfires meant to symbolize similar fires lit in 1690 to aid King William III as he navigated a treacherous waterway. In recent years the scale of the bonfires has grown exponentially, often built as large as possible using hundreds of stacked wooden palettes and old tires that occasionally cause property damage and raise environmental concerns. Photographer Philippe Grollier recently traveled through Northern Ireland and captured images of the teetering structures prior to being lit.

When I first saw these I assumed they were art installations by Russian artist Nikolay Polissky (I would link you directly to his website but at precisely this moment it features a bunch of naked people dancing around an enormous wooden bonfire, so there’s that), but it turns out these towers are just an annual tradition, the beautiful architecture of celebratory pyromaniacs. As a Texan, I also can’t help but be reminded of the 1999 Aggie bonfire collapse. Stay safe Ireland! (via urbanautica)

Update: After quite a bit of feedback I feel the need to write a quick addendum to this post as I think it’s fair to say I have blundered naively into culturally unfamiliar territory. I posted these photos by Philippe Grollier based on the same criteria almost everything on Colossal is selected by: aesthetic quality. I found them, and still believe them to be, striking and well-composed images of intriguing structures when devoid of context. However, there is an extraordinary amount context omitted in my post. I’m told these bonfires are unwelcome symbols to many residents and are often accompanied by riots, crime, and staggering cleanup costs. I encourage you to learn more on the BBC and Wikipedia. My apologies for the tone-deaf approach to the original post.