North Dublin Coast
North Dublin Coast Fossil Locations
LOCATION
Loughshinny Beach
GRID REFERENCE
53.541524, -6.07702
FOSSIL NAME
Crinoids, brachiopods, corals
FOSSIL TYPE
Various marine animals (shells and other invertebrate animals – without backbones)
FOSSIL AGE
Carboniferous (approx. 330 million years old)
ROCK TYPE
Limestone
ACCESS INFO
WARNING! This is a shoreface location so please check weather conditions and tides before you visit.
Full access to the rocks containing the fossils at this location is only possible at low tide. Take care as rocks can become slippery when wet.
From the car park at Loughshinny harbour walk south across the sandy beach.
FOSSIL INFO
Examine the rocks close up to find fossils in this location, taking care on the rocks as they can be very slippery. Here you will find lots of different types of fossils, including crinoids, brachiopods, and corals. The fossils here are white and stand out from the dark grey limestone.
NOTE: No hammering or collection of fossils, help us preserve our fossil heritage by keeping it intact.
FUN FACT
Stand back from the cliffs on the beach and observe the structures of the rocks from afar. The rocks are folded into sharp angles making for a spectacular view along the beach.
Crinoids
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Small circular plates shaped like polo mints (10 mm or less); rarely small hexagons
INFO
Crinoids are marine animals, commonly called sea lillies (but they are not plants!). They were attached to the seafloor by a stalk up to 1.5 m long. At the top of the stalk were several long feathery arms attached to a swollen area called the cup. The crinoid’s arms could open like an umbrella to collect food: tiny floating particles drifting by on ocean currents. Most of the crinoid’s hard skeleton is made up of circular plates called ossicles (shaped like polo mints) joined together by ligaments. When crinoids die the ligaments rot away and the ossicles can become scattered by waves and currents. These little circular ossicles (approx. 4 – 10 mm across) are the most common signs of crinoids in rocks. Sometimes the plates aren’t fully separated and instead, we can see a stack of the plates (like a stack of polo mints).
FUN FACT
Crinoids still exist today! Deep-water crinoids are attached to the seafloor using a long thin stalk up to 1 metre long. Shallow-water crinoids are free swimmers and have no stalks.
Brachiopods
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
White circles or semicircles (in cross-section); whole shells can be fossilized
INFO
Brachiopods are shellfish with two shells that are hinged at one side (like a door) and can open at the opposite side. Long ago these fossils were called ‘lamp shells’ because they look like old-fashioned lamp shades. Brachiopods attach to the seafloor using a strong ligament and feed by filtering particles out of the seawater – they are filter feeders. Fossil brachiopods are usually preserved as only one shell. This is because the ligament that holds the two shells together in life rots away when the animal dies. The two shells are then easily scattered by waves and currents before being buried and fossilised.
FUN FACT
Brachiopods evolved approx. 540 million years ago and are still with us today, but they are quite rare and are found only in the deep ocean.
Corals
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Small horns up to 3 cm long (solo corals); circles with radial lines (like the spokes on a wheel); polka dots (colonies)
INFO
Corals are marine animals that have lots of tentacles like anemones but live at the top of a hard skeleton. They use their tentacles to gather food particles from the surrounding water. There are many different types of fossil corals. Some lived alone (these are called solitary corals) but others lived in large groups and shared a common skeleton (these are called colonial corals). Corals still live in the oceans today, mostly in shallow tropical seas.
FUN FACT
Corals were recently discovered living in cold deep waters in deep-sea canyons hundreds of kilometres off the west coast of Ireland.
LOCATION
Malahide-Portmarnock coast
GRID REFERENCE
53.44052, -6.122116
FOSSIL NAME
Brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, crinoids and gastropods
FOSSIL TYPE
Various marine animals (shells and other invertebrate animals – without backbones)
FOSSIL AGE
Carboniferous (approx. 350 million years old)
ROCK TYPE
Limestone
ACCESS INFO
WARNING! This is a shoreface location so please check weather conditions and tides before you visit.
Full access to the rocks containing the fossils at this location is only possible at low tide. Take care as rocks can become slippery when wet.
Park at the car park at 53.439988, -6.122830. You can access the beach from the north or south side of the car park. On the north side, there is a ramp to the beach; on the south side, there are steps down to the beach. From either access point walk south along the beach.
FOSSIL INFO
The most abundant fossils in the rocks at the north side of the beach are brachiopods, as you walk south along the beach you will see colonial corals and gastropods in the rocks. The fossils along this beach are white and stand out from the dark grey limestone.
NOTE: No hammering or collection of fossils, help us preserve our fossil heritage by keeping it intact.
Brachiopods
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
White circles or semicircles (in cross-section); whole shells can be fossilized
INFO
Brachiopods are shellfish with two shells that are hinged at one side (like a door) and can open at the opposite side. Long ago these fossils were called ‘lamp shells’ because they look like old-fashioned lamp shades. Brachiopods attach to the seafloor using a strong ligament and feed by filtering particles out of the seawater – they are filter feeders. Fossil brachiopods are usually preserved as only one shell. This is because the ligament that holds the two shells together in life rots away when the animal dies. The two shells are then easily scattered by waves and currents before being buried and fossilised.
FUN FACT
Brachiopods evolved approx. 540 million years ago and are still with us today, but they are quite rare and are found only in the deep ocean.
Corals
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Small horns up to 3 cm long (solo corals); circles with radial lines (like the spokes on a wheel); polka dots (colonies)
INFO
Corals are marine animals that have lots of tentacles like anemones but live at the top of a hard skeleton. They use their tentacles to gather food particles from the surrounding water. There are many different types of fossil corals. Some lived alone (these are called solitary corals) but others lived in large groups and shared a common skeleton (these are called colonial corals). Corals still live in the oceans today, mostly in shallow tropical seas.
FUN FACT
Corals were recently discovered living in cold deep waters in deep-sea canyons hundreds of kilometres off the west coast of Ireland.
Bryozoans
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Flat mats or tubes with a pitted surface.
INFO
Bryozoans are tiny marine animals, sometimes called moss animals (but they are not plants!). These animals live in colonies inside a hard skeleton. Bryozoans live in pits in the skeleton and gather food particles in the water with tiny tentacles.
FUN FACT
You can see bryozoans today at the beach, often as white mats with a rough surface that grow on seaweed. They are our very distant relatives – the individual animals in the colony share a common nerve cord that is like a very simple version of ours.
Crinoids
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Small circular plates shaped like polo mints (10 mm or less); rarely small hexagons
INFO
Crinoids are marine animals, commonly called sea lillies (but they are not plants!). The fossil crinoids at Hook Head were attached to the seafloor by a stalk up to 1.5 m long. At the top of the stalk were several long feathery arms attached to a swollen area called the cup. The crinoid’s arms could open like an umbrella to collect food: tiny floating particles drifting by on ocean currents. Most of the crinoid’s hard skeleton is made up of circular plates called ossicles (shaped like polo mints) joined together by ligaments. When crinoids die the ligaments rot away and the ossicles can become scattered by waves and currents. These little circular ossicles (approx. 4 – 10 mm across) are the most common signs of crinoids in rocks. Sometimes the plates aren’t fully separated and instead, we can see a stack of the plates (like a stack of polo mints).
FUN FACT
Crinoids still exist today! Deep-water crinoids are attached to the seafloor using a long thin stalk up to 1 metre long. Shallow-water crinoids are free swimmers and have no stalks.
Gastropods
HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM
Spirals or coils, sometimes in the shape of a cone.
INFO
Gastropods are snails - animals with a hard coiled shell. They live on land, in freshwaters (lakes and rivers) and in the ocean. The shell is spiralled or coiled, sometimes vertically into a cone shape and sometimes horizontally along a flat plane. Fossil gastropods from the Carboniferous are mostly marine.
FUN FACT
Some fossil gastropods from Ireland are bigger than the palm of a man’s hand!