Locals want to save exposed shipwreck from weather

No decision has been made on what to do with a landmark shipwreck which had lay embedded on a Co Kerry beach for more than a century until it was dislodged by storms early last year.

The remains of the wooden skeleton of the Sunbeam wreck in Rossbeigh is still at the mercy of the Atlantic.

Concerned locals fear the wreck will disintegrate further in bad weather unless action is taken quickly.

A spokesperson for the national monuments section of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said yesterday a number of options were being considered, including re-burying the wreck on the beach.

The Sunbeam — a cargo schooner which ran aground at Rossbeigh, in 1904 — had been lifted by a mountainous waves and a tidal surge, just over a year ago, and deposited 200 metres further along the beach, leaving it exposed above the waterline.

The department commissioned works, at a cost of over €9,000, to temporarily secure the wreck at its new location, but further storms continued to cause severe damage.

In consultation with Kerry County Council, the department also looked at the feasibility of reburying the wreck in a way it would remain a landmark. However, the department did not have sufficient funding to undertake the proposal.

“Any such course of action would require the assistance of Kerry County Council which has not been in a position to deploy earth-moving equipment to help rebury the wreck, due to the need to prioritise repairs to coastal protection works at Rossbeigh and elsewhere,” the department spokesman said.

And reburial at its former site would not avert the possibility of further storm damage, the official said.

“Any decision on the future of the wreck would have to factor in such a possibility along with the significant costs likely to be entailed. In that regard, other options are under examination, including potentially leaving the wreck in situ,” he added.

Rossbeigh-based Cllr Michael Cahill said he was at a loss to understand why nothing had been done to save what was left of the legally national monument-protected Sunbeam.

“There’s was a big furore this time last year and people from the department visited the scene and despite all that, we’re still waiting for something to be done. If action isn’t taken quickly, there’ll be nothing left of the Sunbeam,” he said.