Dublin coast
A bracelet slipped off somewhere along Bray's promenade
Bray Head and Bray Harbour mark the two ends of the beach, so any stop on the promenade beside it can be placed between them.
A bracelet lost on Bray's promenade can still turn up. Much hangs on when you last noticed it on your wrist, and on whether anyone stepped off the paving onto the shingle, because a detectorist plans the search around them.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone on the Dublin coast with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach Bray, Dún Laoghaire, Malahide or Portmarnock, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Closer to the city are Killiney's stony beach, the East Pier at Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove, Seapoint and Sandymount. North of the city there are Bull Island, Howth and Sutton, the Velvet Strand at Portmarnock, Malahide's beach, village and demesne park, and Skerries South Strand.
Retrace the promenade once, slowly
If you have not left Bray yet, walk back along the promenade in the direction you came from and look along the edges of the paving as well as down the middle. Where you last recall the bracelet being on, drop a pin and take a picture with Bray Head or the harbour in the frame. An old photo of you wearing it shows its width and metal.
Farther along the coast the ground is different again: pebbles and stones at Killiney, sand on the Velvet Strand and at Skerries, the concrete path along the East Pier, grass on the Malahide Demesne pitches. Tell us the town before anything else, then what you were standing on.
Places we cover on the Dublin coast
- Bray
- The Promenade, Bray, from the harbour end to the path up Bray Head
- Bray beach alongside the promenade
- Killiney Beach
- Dún Laoghaire
- The East Pier, Dún Laoghaire
- Sandycove beach and the Forty Foot
- Seapoint
- Sandymount Strand
- Dollymount Strand, Bull Island
- Howth, the pier out to Howth Lighthouse
- Claremont Beach, Howth
- The Burrow Beach, Sutton
- Portmarnock village
- The Velvet Strand, Portmarnock
- Malahide village
- Malahide Beach and the marina
- Malahide Demesne, the playground and sports pitches
- Skerries
- Skerries South Strand and the esplanade
- Your own back garden, or a local pitch, anywhere on this stretch of coast
Wicklow's seafront to the Fingal strands
Bray is just over the county line in Wicklow. The rest are in County Dublin, and from Howth northwards they belong to Fingal.
Bray promenade, paving and shingle
Nearest the promenade, Bray's beach is steep shingle; closer to the water it flattens out into sand and pebbles. Bray Harbour lies at the northern end of the beach, and at the southern end a path climbs from the promenade up Bray Head. Say which of the two was nearer when the bracelet went.
Killiney Beach
Killiney Beach is pebbles and stones rather than sand, and the DART station and a council car park sit right next to it. From the shore you can see Bray Head, Dalkey Island and Sorrento Terrace.
The East Pier walk, Dún Laoghaire
The East Pier is one of the two granite piers of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, and it is popular with walkers and joggers, on a smooth concrete path between granite walls. Its Victorian shelter and bandstand are handy points to count from.
Sandycove, the Forty Foot and Seapoint
Sandycove's small beach, in the harbour, has shallow water to paddle in. Up the hill, the Forty Foot is a bathing place on a rock outcrop, with concrete wind shelters and steps straight down into the sea. Seapoint, between Blackrock and Monkstown, has bathing areas and slipways that sea swimmers use all year. Name the steps or slipway you used.
Sandymount Strand and Bull Island
Sandymount Strand lies below a promenade, and at low tide you can walk a very long way out on the sand. On the north side of the bay, Bull Island is a low, dune-covered sand spit reached by the Wooden Bridge from Clontarf or by the causeway, and its long beach is Dollymount Strand, where strong winds bring out the kitesurfers.
The Velvet Strand, Portmarnock
The Velvet Strand is Portmarnock's long sandy Blue Flag beach, with several pedestrian access points and a bus stop at the beach itself. Say how far you were from the village, and whether you walked towards Portmarnock Point or north towards Malahide. Portmarnock draws kite-surfers as well as walkers, so mention it if you were out on a kite.
Malahide, the beach, village and demesne
Malahide is a coastal village with streets of boutiques and cafés, within easy walking distance of Malahide Castle Demesne and Regional Park. Malahide Beach runs along the estuary to the marina, where a red flag flies all the time because of the currents and boat traffic. In the park we cover the large children's playground, the sports pitches and the cricket pitch.
Howth, Sutton and Skerries
In Howth, a walk leads from the seafront out along the pier to Howth Lighthouse, and Claremont Beach is a small cove close to the harbour. The Burrow Beach at Sutton is a sandy beach joining Howth Head to the mainland. Farther up the Fingal coast, Skerries South Strand is a long sandy beach near the town, with an esplanade, a coastal walkway and car parking along it.
How a Dublin coast case runs
Nobody new halfway through
You write to one person on WhatsApp, and that person arranges the search and reports back to you.
Your pictures, not our summary
The detectorist sees your pins and photos exactly as you sent them, with your times beside them.
If it could be anywhere
A bracelet that might have gone anywhere between a morning swim and the train home is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Where money comes in
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and you can ask about them at any point.
Details that change from beach to park
A search on the shingle is planned differently from one on a pitch.
Tide times, Bray to Skerries
Tide times at Bray Harbour, Dublin Port, Howth and Skerries come from the Marine Institute's predictions. With the hour of the loss and a photo showing how far up the water was, a search on the sand or stones can be timed for when that spot is uncovered.
Steep shingle at Bray, stones at Killiney
Neither beach is soft sand. Say whether you were on the steep upper part at Bray or the flatter ground by the water, and at Killiney whether you had a towel down or sat straight on the stones.
On grass
A pitch or a garden has lines, corners and sheds that stay put. Mark where you stood and what you were doing, in goal or at the washing line, and send a photo that shows a corner flag or a fence.
Questions about the Dublin coast
Somewhere between the harbour end of Bray's promenade and Bray Head, my bracelet came off. What should I send first?
Write the walk down in order, from where you set off to where you turned back, with every pause: a bench, a photo, a drink. Then say whether anyone went down onto the beach, since the steep shingle below the promenade is searched differently from the paving. Pinned on a map, that list is the detectorist's route.
At Killiney I finished a swim and my watch had gone from my wrist. What helps?
Use the DART station as your starting point, since it is right next to the beach, and say which way you walked from it over the stones and for how long. Bray Head and Dalkey Island are both in view, so a photo with either in the frame fixes the angle. Then add where you waded in and roughly how deep you went.
A phone dropped from the East Pier at Dún Laoghaire. Does it matter which side?
Yes. On the harbour side the pier is a straight wall down to the water. On the sea side a high parapet runs along the pier, and beyond it big granite blocks slope down to the sea. Tell us which side, whether the phone landed on the blocks or in the water, whether you had passed the bandstand, and the time.
We came onto the Velvet Strand from Portmarnock, and by the evening my wedding band was missing.
Name the way you came onto the sand. The beach has several pedestrian access points and a bus stop at the beach itself, so say which one, and roughly how long you walked before you stopped. Then tell us whether you settled well up the beach or close to the water, and whether you went in.
My Oura ring came off during training on one of the Malahide Demesne pitches.
On a pitch, what matters is where you were during the session: the warm-up, the drills, the sideline where bags were left. A photo from the edge of the pitch with the nearest trees in shot helps the detectorist set out the search.
My necklace was on when I got off the train at Malahide and gone after a coffee in the village.
List your stops in order, with where you sat outside, and check with each shop or café too, since someone may have handed the necklace in.
Is a back garden in Dublin too ordinary a place to get in touch about?
No. A garden is a small piece of ground with clear edges, which suits a careful search. Tell us what you were doing, weeding or playing with the children, and where you stood. A photo from the back door with the spot marked, and when the lawn was last mown, completes the brief.
Only one of my earrings was still in by the time we reached the car at Skerries South Strand.
The South Strand is a long sandy beach with an esplanade and a coastal walkway beside it, and cars park along the strand. Tell us whether you kept to the esplanade or walked down onto the beach, where the car was, and where you turned back. Photograph the remaining earring on a plain surface.
Dublin coast
A short first message will do
A pin on the map helps more than a long description.
On WhatsApp, name the piece and add a pin roughly where it came off. Photos of the place and of the bracelet, band or phone are useful once you have them.