Islands of Ireland: A Déise sea Gull worth its salt

The island is popular as a jumping-off point for swimmers in the summer and is a focal point for kayakers heading out from Ballyvooney Beach

Gull Island, Stradbally, Co Waterford. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

WATERFORD’S impossibly beautiful coastline possesses a richness of features to keep a geologist happy for many a long day. The Copper Coast stretches from the western end at Ballyvoile Beach near Stradbally to Kilfarassy Beach near Fenor in the east. The rocks date from the Ordovician age around 460m years ago and reveal huge folds from the tectonic forces that moulded them.

The coast has hidden beaches accessible only from the sea, huge rock arches and inviting cave tunnels. It has sea stacks of manifold shapes: some leaning back to the shoreline, having been separated by erosion, others standing tall and aloof as if declaring their independence.