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Coastal Development in Ireland
Ros Áine
The Department of Transport has been advised by Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water) that it will carry out a benthic survey from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 September, subject to weather and operational constraints. The survey will take place in…
Dive instructor Aoibheann Gillespie Mules filming with the Swimming Head Productions team for the 'Fair Seas: The Atlantic Northwest' film
The Northern Ireland Inheritance Film Festival is set to feature the online premiere of 'Fair Seas: The Atlantic Northwest', a short film that showcases the perspectives of coastal communities from Donegal and Sligo who rely on the sea for their…
Grattan Beach sand fencing
Sand dunes as “ secret superheroes” in protecting against storms and climate change was the theme of a public event on Galway’s Grattan Beach last weekend. Seashore safaris, sandcastle building and more were planned by the Climate Action Regional Office…
A message in a bottle that was thrown into the Atlantic Ocean in Ireland in 2019 and found over four years later on a New Jersey beach
A family in New Jersey who found a message in a bottle from Ireland have connected with the woman who wrote it after the story went viral. Frank Bolger says his wife and granddaughter found the bottle while litter picking…
See the Clare coastline, from Carrowmore Point to Carrigaholt Bay, in unprecedented detail thanks to a new series of Maps that have been developed by INFOMAR. From Mutton Island to Georges Head, from Tullig Point to Loop Head and the Shannon Estuary, this new high-resolution map highlights the unique & intricate landscapes that lie beneath the waves
INFOMAR, a joint venture by the Geological Survey Ireland and the Marine Institute, has launched a collection of 18 high-resolution bathymetric maps of Ireland’s coastal waters. The Blue Scale Map Series is the culmination of over a decade of work…
The first instalment of INFOMAR’s Bluescale Map Series is this  bathymetric map of Galway Bay
INFOMAR has launched its Bluescale Map Series — a collection that will comprise 18 high-resolution bathymetric maps highlighting the topography of Ireland’s coastal waters in unprecedented detail. The series is the culmination of over a decade of work and highlights…
Prior warning - A Galway City Council notice at Grattan beach in Galway city, one of 36 tested swimming areas affected by heavy rainfall runoff and contamination
Bathers and open-water swimmers are urged to check swimming areas which are at risk of contamination due to recent heavy rainfall. A list of 36 beaches with “restrictions” has been published on the beaches.ie website, which also lists areas which…
The Geographical Area of the South Coast Offshore Renewable Energy Designated Maritime Area Plan proposal
The Minister for the Environment has urged local communities and various groups involved in existing maritime activities, including fishing and seafood production, throughout the South Coast to engage in public participation, which his Department has announced about the 8,600 square…
Brandon Bay, the Dingle Peninsula's largest beach, gets a much-needed cleanup today as the Maharees Conservation Association gets to work
Brandon Bay, the Dingle Peninsula's largest beach, is set to receive a much-needed makeover today as the Maharees Conservation Association hosts its second annual NIVEA Beach Clean. Countless volunteers are expected to descend upon the popular destination, armed with gloves…
The works to the pier at Inis Oírr will address risks posed by waves breaking over the pier
A long-awaited project to improve safety at the pier on the Aran island of Inis Oírr may begin by the end of the year, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys has said. She announced this week that Galway…
First Hours of Flooding in Cork City, Ireland, in November 2009
Some coastal communities in Ireland are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change, a new report warns. The report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Ryan Institute at the University of Galway says these communities are…
FFPV Stornes
Vermilion Exploration & Production Ireland Limited is carrying out a maintenance campaign at the Corrib Gas Field subsea infrastructure, with spot rock placement along the main umbilical. Works were due to commence in the field on Sunday 25 June to…
A guided walk will take place on Tuesday, June 27th, at Rinn Rua (Rinroe) beach
A unique north Mayo beach is the location for one of a number of events being run for World Sand Dune Day. A guided walk will take place on Tuesday, June 27th, at Rinn Rua (Rinroe) beach, hosted by An…
Local photographer Andrew Harris snapped the rocket engine after it was landed by fishermen from Union Hall
Mystery surrounds a rocket engine hauled from the sea by fishermen off the Irish coast earlier this month. According to Echo Live, the rocket motor was found by fishermen from Union Hall trawling for monkfish some 200 miles south of…
Clean Coasts World Oceans Day 2023 beach clean banner
Over 4,000 volunteers have signed up to participate in the beach cleans happening all over the country this week as part Clean Coasts’s call to action for World Ocean Day on Thursday 8 June. More than 300 clean-ups are set…
Influencer and hiking enthusiast Roz Purcell (centre) is supporting this year’s Love This Place campaign by Leave No Trace Ireland
Leave No Trace Ireland — Ireland’s only outdoor ethics programme, which promotes the responsible use of the outdoors — has launched its fourth national awareness campaign urging the public to enjoy our inland waterways, coastal areas, beaches and other outdoor spaces…

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.