# Rossbeigh > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rossbeigh > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rossbeigh.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossbeigh > Source revision: 1317728582 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Rossbeigh**, or **Rossbehy** (), is a [sandspit](/source/Sandspit_(landform)) with beaches on either side, located approximately 1.6 km from the village of [Glenbeigh](/source/Glenbeigh), in [County Kerry](/source/County_Kerry), [Ireland](/source/Ireland). It is on the [Ring of Kerry](/source/Ring_of_Kerry), on the [Dingle Bay](/source/Dingle_Bay) side of the [Iveragh Peninsula](/source/Iveragh_Peninsula).[1] Rossbeigh contains a large volume of [sand dunes](/source/Dune) and [herbaceous](/source/Herbaceous_plant) vegetation.[2][3] It is considered an important habitat for flora and fauna,[4] including wildfowl (salmon and clam are locally farmed).[5] The beach is on the [Wild Atlantic Way](/source/Wild_Atlantic_Way) tourist route.[6] ## Geography Rossbeigh, along with the further inshore [Cromane](/source/Cromane) strand in the [Castlemaine Harbour](/source/Castlemaine_Harbour), and [Inch Strand](/source/Inch_Strand) off the [Dingle Peninsula](/source/Dingle_Peninsula) (an equally long spit with an equally complex and unstable sand dune systems), is one of three sandspits acting as [natural barriers](/source/Barrier_islands) against the [Atlantic Ocean](/source/Atlantic_Ocean) for [Dingle Bay](/source/Dingle_Bay),[7] which is relatively narrow and subject to strong wave forces and deposition of sediment.[5] ## Erosion During the early 2000s, slow but prolonged erosion caused by changes in [tidal range](/source/Tidal_range), wave height and length, and a reduction in sediment deposits, lead to the receding of some of the [dunes](/source/Dune).[8] Rossbeigh was breached during a winter 2008 storm when a 1200 ft sand dune was collapse by the sea, splitting the former two-mile [sandspit](/source/Sandspit_(landform)) into two, effectively making the outer part of the spit a tidal island.[9] The Rossbeigh Strand Tower, which had been a landmark to [Castlemaine Harbour](/source/Castlemaine_Harbour) for over 100 years, collapsed in February 2011. The tower has since been moved to the nearby village of Glenbeigh and restored.[10] As the split acts as a divide from Dingle bay, the collapse was described in 2020 as putting "homes across the bay at risk as climate change threatened even more frequent extreme events."[11] However, Jimmy Murphy, of the School of Engineering at [University College Cork](/source/University_College_Cork) was optimistic that dunes would begin to build back up. In 2020 he said: "people think when you get erosion that the sand disappears, but the sand has to go somewhere. It is deposited — about 10m tonnes — further out, and we feel it will make its way back. There is a huge amount of sand sitting out there, and...we think...that it will eventually make its way back in here and you will get your dunes reforming".[11] ## References ### Notes 1. ["Glenbeigh / Rossbeigh"](https://www.theringofkerry.com/towns-villages/glenbeigh-rossbeigh). *www.theringofkerry.com*. Retrieved 2020-07-21. 1. ["Site Synopsis: Castlemaine Harbour SAC"](https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/protected-sites/synopsis/SY000343.pdf). *[National Parks and Wildlife Service](/source/National_Parks_and_Wildlife_Service_(Ireland))*. Retrieved 5 July 2021. 1. ["Castlemaine Harbour SAC"](https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/000343). *National Parks and Wildlife Service*. Retrieved 5 July 2021. 1. ["Rossbeigh Beach, Kerry"](https://www.wildatlanticwayonline.com/map-of-kerry-wild-atlantic-way/discovery-points/rossbeigh-beach/). *Wild Atlantic Way Ireland Map and Guide*. Retrieved 2020-07-21. 1. O'Shea (2015), p. 4 1. ["Rossbeigh Strand"](https://www.thewildatlanticway.com/sight/rossbeigh-strand/). *thewildatlanticway.com*. Retrieved 30 September 2023. 1. O'Shea (2015), p. 3 1. O'Shea (2015), pp. 122, 128, 134 1. Lucey, Anne. "[Kerry beach erosion lets sea through and creates island of spit at Rossbeigh](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/kerry-beach-erosion-lets-sea-through-and-creates-island-of-spit-at-rossbeigh-1.924295)". *[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)*, 16 December 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2021 1. ["Volunteers recreate iconic tower in Glenbeigh village"](https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/news/volunteers-recreate-iconic-tower-in-glenbeigh-village/35008628.html). *Independent.ie*. 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2023-09-29. 1. Hoar, Padraig. "[Special Report: Hope after all for Rossbeigh sand dunes destroyed by 2008 storms](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-40022906.html)". *[Irish Examiner](/source/Irish_Examiner)*, 28 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021 ### Sources - O'Shea, Patrick. "Monitoring and modelling the morphodynamic evolution of a breached barrier beach system". [University College Cork](/source/University_College_Cork), 2015 ## External links - [Rossbeigh.com - information on beach](https://web.archive.org/web/20230329000909/http://rossbeigh.com/) (archived 2023) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rossbeigh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossbeigh) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossbeigh?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.