In October of 1987, I was in Ireland when a major hurricane caused untold damage to England, France, and parts of Northern Europe. Years later, while reading W.G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn , I came across his account of the storm’s destruction in Norfolk. On that October day, however, I was unaware of the chaos the storm had caused. Like many others, I went down to Dollymount Beach, where the shore was strewn with shells unfamiliar to the Irish coast. By 2001, thanks to Sebald, I had learned more about the storm’s impact. The one sea shell I had collected became 700 cast shells, my own memorial to the uprooted trees and displaced sea life— testaments to a tempest that had reshaped both land and sea.
Anne O’Callaghan
The Bull Wall at the Port of Dublin, extending from the estuary of the River Tolka and the district of Clontarf goes out about 3 km into Dublin Bay. It is also the main path way to Dollymount Beach and and Dollymount Golf Course.
Captain William Bligh, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, was one of the surveyors on the construction of the wall. I always thought that Mutiny on the Bounty was just Hollywood.
44 on site review 46 :: travel
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