The Sand
From 03 October 2008
We were chatting with this nice lady who was working the ticket counter to tour a castle in the little town of Athenry.
“Where once we watched the small free birds fly…”
Yes, that Athenry. We made the plans to see the town, tour the castle, and find the fields made famous in the song. And we did all that, maybe to be told in another story. But at this point we were the only people at the castle, and were waiting for an American tour bus that was due to show up any minute so they could group us together and would only have to use a single guide. Fair enough. We were chatting with the lady and casually told her of our plans and where we were staying, and we asked her if there is anything else she could recommend around us. Maybe as a local she knew of something special not in the guide books. She pulled up a map of the whole region, circled a spot along the coast, and said “You HAVE to go to Coral Beach”.
Coral Beach? That sounded right up our alley! We tried to find where she circled from her small map on our larger road map to figure out how to get there. Mind you, this was a time before smartphones with GPS and Google Maps. We located it on our road atlas – seemingly in the middle of nowhere - and made the plans to check it out when we were next out that way.
A couple days later, we wound up going that direction and decided to try to find the beach. We started out in the town of An Spideal driving the Barr Na gCurragh along the coastline and headed west, growing more and more coastal-rural as we went along. It was a surprisingly clear day, with the sky a brilliant blue overhead, and in Ireland you enjoy that while it lasts! We went around the curve and past the small, lonely thatched-roof bar that we saw on our first night here. Maybe someday we’ll stop in. Further we went up the coast, around an inlet then back down – through small villages, past old stone walls, and right along the water’s edge until we met the end of the road. The brown coastal ground stretched out on either side of us. There was a small parking area where we pulled over and dropped the car, and walked the little path down to the beach.
There, on the little grassy spot between the road and beach, we were greeted by a cow. She was just standing there, claiming her little patch of greenery, but we had to walk pretty close to get around her. She seemed friendly at first, but us being so close made her a bit nervous. What started as a casual walk ended in a quick sprint as we dodged the angry lady!
We made it down to the beach in one piece where we encountered such a beautiful scene. Beige sand contrasted along the dark rocks and seaweed that was growing around them. The clear icy cold water lapped softly against the shore. Small pools of sea water filled crevices in the rocks and made little homes for the sea anemones clinging to the sides. Seaweed was washed up around and over the rocks, claiming the extent of the tide once it came back in. It was a truly natural beach, not prepped for umbrellas and sunbathing, but instead a pristine example of a natural seascape. It was truly beautiful.
But where was the coral?
We looked around us, along the rocks, in the water, everywhere along the beach. We didn’t see any coral. “Maybe it’s just in the name?” we thought. We had no idea, and while we may have been a bit disappointed, we were content to just enjoy the beautiful unspoiled environment we were in.
Beth crouched down to look for stones or sea glass for her jewelry as I went to take more pictures.
“Den!” she called out. “It’s not sand!”
I looked back at her confused for a moment then crouched down myself. She was right, it wasn’t sand! Instead, the entire beach was made of tiny bits of coral, all different colors and shapes that you really couldn’t make out until you got really close down to inspect. We sat for what must have been an hour, looking through the different pieces and pulling aside our favorites. There was so much there we couldn't believe that we didn't see it at first.
We found the coral – not on the beach, it was the beach!
We crossed over from the coral beach back to the rocky shoreline, watching the crabs crawl through the beached seaweed and skittering away as we came near. The wind was growing brisk, quickly changing from that clear blue sky to grey clouds and rain almost instantly as it seems to do in this part of Ireland. The waters of Galway Bay were getting choppy as the wind blew the cold salt spray into our faces. It was time to head back to the car, thankful to that super nice woman who told us to come here. We never got to see her again to say our thanks, maybe someday she’ll get to read this and know our appreciation.
Coral Beach was a great find, and a perfect way to spend a nice rainless morning in Ireland!
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