September 28, 2003
It never rains but it pours, Pt. II
I called over to Pollatomish yesterday, to have a look at the damage caused by the landslide. The Garda at the checkpoint wouldn't let me up the road to where most of the damage occurred, so I drove over to Rosduagh, and looked across the bay. I couldn't help thinking of the Aberfan disaster - all across the ridge of the mountain, deep gashes were visible where the bog had slipped down the hill. The worst landslide crashed straight through the graveyard and down onto the road. Had it happened in the path of any of the houses, it would have washed them straight into the bay.(Picture is from the crappy digital camera - I'll post some 'proper' photos when I get them developed).
The extent of the damage can be seen - the landslides occurred across the length of hills from Dooncarton (right) to Pollatomish (left). The pillbox structure on the ridge is a radar station. It looks like one of the landslides occurred close to the site.
By the way, there are some enormous mussels clinging to the bottom of the pier at Ross Port, at the low-water line. I couldn't reach them and my suggestion to lower Herself down by her ankles to grab a handful received an unseasonally cool response.
View of Pollatomish from Ross Port, looking across Sruwaddacon Bay at low tide. The landslides are the dark streaks on the hills.
Most of the Sunday papers give it some coverage, though none have much of an explanation of what happened. It seems that the rain caused the peat to become saturated and so heavy that it eventually detached from the land beneath. Like a snowball, once it started, the momentum would increase, bringing even more material down the hill. I'm inclined to agree with this column in Castlebar.ie, if only because I hate sheep almost as much as the author. In all the coverage, there is no mention of the stone circle at Dooncarton that overlooks Pollatomish and Broad Haven. It has lasted millenia already - in fact it was probably erected before the bog ever formed on the hillside of Barnacuille and Carnhill - hopefully it has survived.
More pictures of the landslide available on the Castlebar.ie site here.
Posted by Monasette at September 28, 2003 09:57 PM | TrackBack