Achill islanders ready themselves for wave of tourism after reappearance of Dooagh sands washed away in storms in 1984

For Achill islander Emmet Callaghan, the beach at Dooagh where he grew up sounded as mythical and unreal as Brigadoon, the mysterious Scottish village that only appears every 100 years.

The 300-metre stretch of golden sand where his grandfather used to collect seaweed for villagers to fertilise their land was destroyed in 1984 by Atlantic storms that battered Ireland’s north-west coast – seven years before Callaghan was born.

A more benign freak of nature this Easter brought Dooagh beach back, its mysterious reappearance capturing the world’s imagination. An unusually strong tide appeared off the coast of Achill Island, dumping hundreds of tonnes of sand on the rocks and building up the beach again.

Looking out across the golden sand as he stood beside the memorial at the spot in Dooagh where Don Allum, an English oarsman, hit land after becoming the first man to row solo both ways across the Atlantic, Callaghan explained why the global media has come calling.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dooagh beach after a storm returned sand to it, 30 years after another storm had stripped all the sand off the beach. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

“We live in a dark world these days so I think that is why there has been so much interest in Dooagh beach since the story broke. For something like our beach to come back gives people hope. It’s a good news story and one where nature has done something benign for a change,” Callaghan, an administrator at Achill Tourism, said.

Irish beach washed away 33 years ago reappears overnight after freak tide Read more

As waves lapped the shoreline, depositing clumps of seaweed known locally as “the wrack” that filled the air with a briny tang, Callaghan said he was readying himself for a wave of tourists this season, all searching for the born-again beach.

“I had 50 English tourists drive here from a pilgrimage they were on at Knock (a Catholic shrine in Mayo) on Tuesday. They were from Leicester and some of them were starstruck when they reached the beach. One woman was on her mobile telling her family back home she had reached ‘that beach’.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Emmet Callaghan of Achill Tourism on Dooagh beach. ‘Our phones haven’t stopped ringing,’ he says. Photograph: Henry McDonald/The Guardian

“Our phones at Achill Tourism haven’t stopped ringing since the reports went around the world about how the beach reappeared after 33 years. It makes it all the more amazing because my family connections to this beach stretch back through generations. My great-great-grandfather used to blow a bugle on the beach to let the villagers know when the wrack was washed ashore so they could come down and get their share. I wonder what he would have thought about his beach becoming world famous?” Callaghan said.

Another Callaghan stopped in her jeep to greet him. Kate Callaghan (no relation) owns a cafe in nearby Achill Sound and had just returned from Manchester.

In a thick Mancunian accent, Callaghan, the daughter of Achill slanders, said: “I was in a friend’s house in Manchester on Monday and then I turned on the TV and there was Emmet talking to the BBC via Skype while standing on the beach just down there. It was unreal to watch pictures of Dooagh beach being beamed out on the television channels while I was in England.”

Hoteliers, B&B owners and publicans hope the images of Dooagh beach, shot during the warmest weather so far in 2017, will bring a new influx of tourists to their part of Achill.

JJ McNamara, who has lived in Dooagh for 55 years and owns the Achill Cliff House hotel, said he believed the size and strength of the waves, combined with the “miraculous return” of soft golden sand, could help a specific form of tourism – surfing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest JJ McNamara. Photograph: Henry McDonald/The Guardian

Looking towards Clare Island, McNamara pointed to the waves that caused so much damage back in 1984 that they not only wiped out the beach but flooded houses far beyond along the main road.

“Those waves and that beach make for a perfect combination for surfers. Even on a calm day like today they would be good enough to ride on a surf board. It’s another way for us to bring more tourists to Dooagh,” he said.

Across the road, inside Lourdies pub, its barman, John Cafferkey, said the beach’s reappearance would herald the return of a local delicacy.

“I remember eating sand eels from the beach when it was there before the storms in 84. There weren’t too many of them when all there was down there were rocks and rock pools. The soft sand that’s returned is perfect for the sand eels to thrive in, which by the way taste delicious,” he said.

Yet like Brigadoon, the resurrected beach at Dooagh could disappear once more if more climate change-driven violent storms smash into Ireland’s western seaboard, Irish coastal scientists warn.

Dr Kevin Lynch and Dr Eugene Farrell, from the National University of Ireland Galway, added: “The fact that Dooagh recovered so rapidly is definitely interesting. We would assess how deep is the veneer of sand. It could be that the sand was made available from offshore in recent months and last week the wave conditions were optimal to move it further landward to rebuild the beach. Hopefully, over time the beach elevation will rise – at least until the next storm.”