Irish beach returns overnight after vanishing in storms 12 years ago

A beach in Ireland which vanished 12 years ago has reappeared overnight.

The sands of Ashleam Bay, on the island of Achill, were washed away by a storm in 2005, leaving just boulders and rock pools.

But locals noticed the sudden return of the beach following a summer that has seen Storm Brian batter the Irish coast.

Sean Molloy, manager of Achill Island Tourism, told the Daily Mail that earlier storms had cleared the beach of boulders, before Brian brought the sand back.

“There is local folklore that stretches back hundreds of years that says this beach comes back every seven years then disappears again,” he said.

“It was last seen in 2005 and it stayed for a few months at that time before it was washed away again.

“I've been to visit the beach. It was the first time I was ever down on that part of the shore, even though I've been here all my life, and I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. It's absolutely stunning, it's a new favourite spot for me now.”

Malcolm Cooney, a local who has lived on Achill his whole life, said the bay is "always different".

"The last time the sand was in it only lasted for one year," he said. "Before that, the last time it was in, it had been many, many years."

Ashleam Bay is just six miles from Dooagh, which made headlines in May when its beach returned after it vanished 33 years ago.

The disappearance led to local businesses, which had once thrived off the tourism the beach attracted, almost all closing.

Dr Kevin Lynch, a geographer at the National University of Ireland Galway, told the Irish Times that returning beaches were nothing to do with climate change.

“In Dooagh’s case, the wind direction changed the hydrodynamics of the bay, and may have washed in an offshore sandbank,” he said.

“This may be similar for Ashleam, and it could be that erosion on one part of the coast has provided a new sediment supply.”