Modern Mysteries

Missing Irish beach reappears after 30 years

By T.K. Randall
May 7, 2017 ·  13 comments

Most of the sand vanished more than 30 years ago. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Graham Horn The picturesque beach near Dooagh village on Achill Island, Ireland was once a popular tourist attraction which helped to sustain four hotels and numerous guesthouses in the local area.

This all changed in the summer of 1984 however when, for reasons that remain unclear, the entire beach was washed away by the tide, leaving nothing but an expanse of bare rock.Now though, more than three decades after the beach was stripped bear, thousands of tons of sand and pebbles have been deposited back along the shoreline, restoring the beach to its former glory.


"It's enormously significant," said Sean Molloy of local tourism firm Achill Tourism. "Achill already has five blue-flag beaches, so we are hoping that in time it will be awarded a sixth."

Whether the sand will actually stick around this time however remains to be seen.

Source: Irish Times | Comments (13)

Tags: Sand, Beach