Baldoyle Bay is a sea

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

on the east coast of

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, in the traditional

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. It is situated between

Portmarnock Portmarnock () is a coastal town in County Dublin, Ireland, north of the city of Dublin, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. , ...

, at its head, and

Baldoyle Baldoyle () is a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, it was developed from a former fishing village. Baldoyle is also a civil parish in the barony of Coolock within the traditional County Dublin. Location and access Baldoyle is located northe ...

. It contains two small

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, those of the Sluice River and the

Mayne River The Mayne River (), is a small watercourse of northern County Dublin. It forms from the merger of the Cuckoo and Turnapin Streams, which rise near Dublin Airport and help drain the airport campus. The river is in the jurisdiction of Fingal Cou ...

, and is sometimes called Baldoyle Estuary. The inlet is an important natural feature with protected status. It was once the site of a Viking ''

longphort A longphort (Ir. plur. ''longphuirt'') is a term used in Ireland for a Viking ship enclosureConnolly S.J (1998). The Oxford Companion to Irish History. Oxford University Press. p. 580 or shore fortress. The ''longphorts'' were bases for Viking ra ...

'' and later the fishing village of Baldoyle developed near its outlet to the sea.

Location and access

The narrow inlet runs north–south, reaching the sea north of

Howth Head Howth Head ( ; ''Ceann Bhinn Éadair'' in Irish) is a peninsula northeast of the city of Dublin in Ireland, within the governance of Fingal County Council. Entry to the headland is at Sutton while the village of Howth and the harbour are on t ...

, along the Burrow Beach. At its head is Portmarnock Bridge, where a road from old Portmarnock meets the road from the modern

village centre, while near its outlet is the former fishing village of

, now a residential suburb of Dublin. It is bounded on the seaward side by the peninsula on which the Velvet Strand (used as a runway for early flights) and the

Portmarnock Golf Club Portmarnock Golf Club is a Links (golf), links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport. The golf course is often rated as one of the top courses in the UK and Ireland and is also oft ...

course are situated. The estuary is paralleled by a coastal road to the west and north, served by bus, and with few possibilities for parking. To the east, access is possible on foot from parking for Portmarnock's southern beaches. A small green space exists at the northern end of the estuary. This is popular with birds and holds an interpretative sign with information on the area. There is also a walking route to the estuary from the

Clongriffin Clongriffin ( is a community in northern Donaghmede,Dublin: Dublin City Council, Minutes of full Meeting of Council, April 2009, Q. 36 - City Manager's answer. on the northern fringe of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The settlement was ...

area, across the former Baldoyle Racecourse.

Nature

The inlet contains the estuaries of two small rivers, the Sluice at the northern, Portmarnock, end, and the Mayne, mid-way south, at the north end of Baldoyle. Each river is formed from several

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

in mid-Fingal, and both cause flooding fairly regularly at certain points on their courses. The inlet contains both freshwater and saltwater marshes, as well as raised

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

, mud and sand, and riverine shallows and mud channels, and is protected by

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s. Four habitat types feature in Annex I of the EU

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...

, namely Salicornia mud, Mediterranean

salt meadow A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It i ...

s, Atlantic salt meadows and tidal

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s. Much of the intertidal flats are exposed at low tide, mostly sand but also some muds in the inner estuary. Notable

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

include common cord-grass, narrow-leafed

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * '' Zostera'', marine eelgrass * '' Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass See also *'' Potamogeton compressus'', known as eel-grass pondweed {{Short pages monitor