The Hungry Sea

By W.G.A. Scott.

Most people will have heard or read the expression the 'savage seas' as it is a much more popular description of the oceans of the world than the 'Hungry seas', even though the seas are as hungry as they are savage. Anyone

The Hungry Sea

who wants to view actual proof of just how hungry the Irish Sea can be should take a walk along Wicklow Town seafront at the first available opportunity. Known as the Murrough, it is very popular with local residents and visitors alike, and is a most attractive place in which to enjoy a bracing, energising and health preserving walk, trot or run in winter or summer. It is also an area that enhances and benefits Wicklow town, a fact no local organisation has ever fully appreciated, or so it would seem. Equally it could be said that nothing sufficiently substantive has been done to preserve it for posterity.

With the passage of time, persons walking in the area have worn a very definite path for over a mile along the grass verge bordering the actual strand. It was used by everyone, but not any more. The reason being that it no longer exists. The hungry Irish Sea has made sure of that most effectively. Large swathes of the grassland area have been washed away over the years and particularly so in the past few months, causing the disappearance of the well-established path, much to the annoyance of the majority of the town's people. Most people walked to one or other of two points, the White House which is over one mile or the Apparatus Pole, better known as the Monkey Pole, a distance of about half a mile. Regrettably, if something very positive is not done very quickly this most beneficial and enjoyable exercise will become a thing of the past.

I recently visited the seaside resorts of Salthill, Co. Galway and Tramore, Co.Waterford where I enjoyed the well established manmade seafront walks that both towns provide. Undoubtedly Salthill sets by far the best example of how an endangered seafront should be preserved. The walkway is very flat and very wide, and extends for at least one mile. It is a joy to traverse and is protected from the ravages of the hungry sea by masses of huge rocks set in cement in perpetuity, at least to the naked eye. It would take mountainous seas many years to wash them away. I would suggest before it is too late, that some responsible group from Wicklow Town pays a visit to Salthill to see what can be done by an interested and committed local authority. No doubt not many years ago Salthill seafront was in a condition similar to that of the Murrough today.

Local dignitary, Mr. James Giff J.P. (retired Co. Co./U.D.C. councillor) has been militating for many years to have a comprehensive coastal protection scheme introduced to safeguard this natural resource. The government is awash with money, some of which should be used for such essential and worthwhile purposes, he says. He is right.