Portmarnock Beach

I guess this post is a preface. Over the next few weeks, as evenings and spare time allows, I'll try to capture three weeks of Irish shorelines, from the Antrim Coast to the Cliffs of Moher to the Bray Strand. I suspect I added 30 or so beaches to my collection this trip. Or at least 30 that merit display -- there were dozens more that were less distinguished, where I took few photos, or where the weather didn't lend itself to nice specimens.

This was the first beach I saw on this side of the Atlantic, just before landing at DUB on the morning of August 26th. Portnmarnock is a barrier beach, one of many on this coastline separated by rocky headlands and small river mouth estuaries. There's a golf course built in the dunes - a very common theme on Irish beaches ("links" comes from an Old English term that basically means coastal dunes).

The posts that follow will trace a generally anti-clockwise path around Ireland's coastline, although a bulk will be from the north and the west. Like the U.S., but for somewhat different geologic reasons, Ireland's east coast differs geographically from its west coast. The eastern side (Irish Sea) is fairly tame and subdued, at least compared to the rugged peninsulas of the western side (Atlantic Ocean).