County Wexford
Car keys lost on Rosslare Strand, with a ferry to catch
On Rosslare Strand, we start by asking which two breakwaters you sat between.
A search for keys dropped on Rosslare Strand does not need you there, and it can go ahead after you have sailed. Timber breakwaters divide the beach into sections, so the section you sat in and the hour you walked off give a detectorist one stretch of sand to work instead of the whole beach.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in County Wexford with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach Rosslare, Curracloe, Courtown, Kilmore Quay or Wexford town, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Keys on the strand are one case among several here, and each starts from the last place you are sure you had it.
If the ferry has not sailed yet
Go through the car and each bag once, slowly, before anything else. Then, if check-in allows, return to the access you came down by, count the breakwaters along to your spot, and photograph the sand in both directions from it with a breakwater post in each frame. Already on board, or home? Note the times while they are fresh: parking, reaching the sand, leaving it and joining the queue.
Away from the sand, on tarmac, paving or park grass, a list of your stops in order, beginning at the parked car, is what we need.
Places we cover in County Wexford
- Rosslare Strand village
- Rosslare Strand, from the village to Rosslare Point
- The main car park and wooden walkway, Rosslare Strand
- Rosslare Harbour village
- Rosslare Europort passenger car parks and drop-off bays
- The bus terminal outside Rosslare Europort
- Rosslare Harbour Walking Trail and the viewing point car park
- Rosslare Harbour Village Park and Gardens
- The beach from Rosslare Harbour to St Helen's Bay
- Curracloe Beach
- Raven Point and the Raven Point Wood trail
- Courtown
- Courtown Harbour and the quayside
- Courtown Beach, north of the harbour
- South Beach, Courtown
- Main Street, Courtown
- Wexford town
- Redmond Park, Wexford
- Min Ryan Park, Wexford
- Kilmore Quay and its beaches
Where on the coast, and where in town
Rosslare Strand lies south east of Wexford town, with Rosslare Europort beyond it. Courtown is south east of Gorey, and the two parks are in Wexford itself.
Rosslare Strand, between the breakwaters
Rosslare Strand runs along the southern edge of Wexford Harbour, sand and stone split into sections by timber breakwaters. The main way down is from the main car park, and a wooden walkway leads to a viewing area. People swim here and paddle kayaks. The sand runs north from the village, where cafés and restaurants sit close to the beach, out to Rosslare Point.
Rosslare Europort, car parks and set-down bays
Rosslare Europort is the ferry port at Rosslare Harbour. Its passenger car parks sit within a short walk of the main terminal building, the set-down bays for dropping off and picking up are directly outside it, and the bus terminal stands just outside the port.
Rosslare Harbour, the trail and the Village Park
The Rosslare Harbour Walking Trail starts at the viewing point car park overlooking the port and runs along the clifftop. The Village Park and Gardens is laid out as several gardens joined by paths, with willow play areas for children. South of the port, the sand runs on to St Helen's Bay, a long beach for swimming and walks.
Curracloe and Raven Point
Curracloe Beach is a long stretch of white sand from Raven Point up towards Blackwater, backed by hilly dunes with a nature trail through them. The lifeguards sit at White Gap in summer. Behind the southern end, the Raven Point Wood trail leaves a car park and runs through Corsican pine to the dunes and the beach. Say which gap or car park you came down by.
Courtown Harbour and Main Street
Courtown is built around a harbour and a canal, and the harbour with its curving quayside and Main Street together make up the old heart of the village. Did you keep to Main Street or go down onto the quayside, and where did you stop for a while?
The North and South Beaches at Courtown
North of the harbour, Courtown Beach is fine sand, narrow around the main access points and wider the farther north you walk, with a wooden walkway down from the car parks. The sailing club building stands on the South Beach, which makes it the obvious fixed point on that sand. Estimate the distance between your towel and that building, and tell us if anyone swam.
Redmond Park and Min Ryan Park, Wexford
Both are public parks in Wexford town. Redmond Park is reached from the Hill Street car park or the main gate on Spawell Road, and has a children's playground. Send the entrance you used and the spot where you spent longest.
Kilmore Quay
Kilmore Quay is a fishing village of whitewashed, thatched cottages around a busy harbour, with a beach on either side of it. An easy, flat concrete ramp leads down to the sand. Tell us which side of the harbour you were on.
Who answers, and what we do with your details
Messages from the boat
Noticed it on board? Write from the ferry, or once you land. The same person answers every message about your loss.
Your breakwater, not the car park
Your pins, photos and times go straight into the detectorist's brief. That lets a search begin at the right breakwater instead of at the top of the beach.
Keys somewhere on the strand
If all anyone knows is that the keys went somewhere on Rosslare Strand, the search is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Costs before a date
We explain the costs before any search is booked, together with what you would still need to send.
Ground and water on this page
What a detectorist needs to hear, beach by beach and park by park.
When the sea covered your spot
Mark how far down the beach you were, from the dry sand at the top to the wet edge. With the date, the Marine Institute's tide predictions for Rosslare, Wexford and Arklow show whether the water has come up over that spot since.
Breakwaters on Rosslare Strand
The timber breakwaters were put there to hold sand on the beach, and they are the fixed marks on it. A photo with one in it, or a count from the access you used, places you more exactly than words can.
No tide on tarmac or grass
At the port, on Courtown's quayside and in the Wexford parks, the hour matters less than what your hands were doing. Say where you ate, where you lifted a child or searched a bag for something, and where you stood longest.
Questions about County Wexford
The car keys were in none of our bags when we reached the ferry queue, and we had spent the afternoon on Rosslare Strand.
Your booking is useful here, since it fixes the hour you left the beach. Tell us whether you came down from the main car park or by one of the walkways, and how many timber breakwaters you passed between that access and the place you sat. A picture of the spare key, or of a fob like yours, shows the detectorist exactly what to look for.
Every part of Rosslare Strand looked the same to us. How do we tell you where the wedding band came off?
Use the breakwaters. Counting them from the access you came down by lets you say, for instance, that you sat between the third and fourth, and how near the water you were. Photos from that day with a breakwater post or the wooden walkway behind you fix the place better than memory does.
My watch came off somewhere between the car and the terminal at Rosslare Europort, while I was collecting someone off the ferry.
The passenger car parks are a short walk from the main terminal building, and the set-down bays are directly outside it. Pin your parking space, trace the walk to the doors, and note anywhere you stood to wait, including the bus terminal just outside the port if you crossed to it.
An earring dropped in the Village Park and Gardens at Rosslare Harbour, and the park has several gardens. How do I describe where?
Name the garden first. The park is made up of separate areas linked by paths: formal gardens, a small sensory garden with mosaic seating, willow play areas for children, and a woodland stretch with a Fairy walk. Then say how you moved from one to the next.
We had a day out in Courtown with the children and got home without my watch. How do we narrow it down?
Put the day in order. The old centre of the village is the harbour with its curving quayside and Main Street, and the South Beach is where the sailing club stands. Tell us where you parked, where you stopped to eat, and which part of the beach the children played on. Your latest photo showing the watch marks the last moment it was on.
My necklace came off on Courtown's South Beach. Which details matter?
Start with the time: when did you last feel the chain at your neck, and when did you notice it had gone? Then place yourself against the sailing club building and say whether you were up on the dry sand or down near the water. If the chain broke, keep the part that stayed with you.
Our daughter's bracelet came off at the playground in Redmond Park, Wexford.
Redmond Park can be entered from the Hill Street car park, which people in Wexford call Dr Furlong's car park, or through the main gate on Spawell Road. Tell us which way you came in, where you sat while she played, and whether you went any farther into the park.
Do you cover Min Ryan Park in Wexford? My ring slipped off while I was watching the children at the skate park.
We do. Besides the skate park, Min Ryan Park holds a playground, a picnic area, a walking track and a games area, so start by naming the part you were in. Then say where you stood to watch, and whether you walked the track afterwards.
County Wexford
Still at the port, or already at sea
Either way, the first message can go now.
Message us on WhatsApp from the queue, the ship or your own kitchen. A photo of what is missing, or of the spare key, and a pin where you think it went answer our first questions.