Displaying items by tag: Magheramore Beach

21st August 2022

Council Investigated ‘Film Set’ House at Beloved Wicklow Beach

It’s emerged that Wicklow County Council has investigated a large wooden structure overlooking the popular Magheramore Beach for potential breach of planning rules.

According to TheJournal.ie, the probe was on the foot of complaints raised by locals over the house-like structure on lands purchased last year by Paddy McKillen Jr of the Press Up hospitality group and Oakmount property firm.

The council has since confirmed that the building is part of a temporary film set, for which planing permission was not required according to a spokesperson for Oakmount.

But locals remain concerned about promises to remove the building at the end of the film shoot, as well as access to the beach.

Access had been a primary concern during ahead of the public auction of the lands, which separate Magheramore Beach from the local community, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastal Notes

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Lands Leading to Magheramore Beach Sell for More Than Three Times Asking Price

The main route onto one of Co Wicklow’s most popular beaches has sold at auction for more than three times the asking price.

And as The Irish Times reports, Wicklow County Council was outbid for the 21-acre site above Magheramore Beach which went for a whopping €700,000.

As previously noted on Afloat.ie, it’s feared that public access to the beach could be interrupted by the sale of the overlooking lands.

The sale has been “the most talked about story in Co Wicklow”, said Local auctioneer Catherine O’Reilly, who also failed to assuage fears with her belief that “the right of way is not registered”.

However, local TD John Brady said any attempt to restrict public access to the beach “will not be tolerated and will be bitterly opposed”.

The Irish Times has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastal Notes

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Auction of Lands Could Impact Public Access to Popular Wicklow Beach

Public access to one of Co Wicklow’s most popular beaches could be interrupted by the sale of overlooking lands, as The Irish Times reports.

A 21-acre site that serves as the route onto Magheramore Beach, north of Brittas Bay on the Wicklow coast, has previously changed hands a number of times and is once again up for sale, with an online auction scheduled to begin in 25 June.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastal Notes

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour