Those enjoying the balmy conditions at Sutton’s Burrow Beach this lunchtime noted how quiet it was today, with beach wide open as far as the eye could see, compared to yesterday when a young man tragically drowned.
The teenager was pulled from the water by gardaí and emergency services around 7:30pm last night and later died at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin.
The news of his death has sent shockwaves through the local community.
Several experienced swimmers who regularly bathe at Burrow Beach say it has become increasingly crowded in recent years and most visitors don’t realize ‘how dangerous it can be’.
Luke Tobin (72) has lived in nearby Offington for most of his life and said the area to the right of the lifeguard hut on the beach is particularly treacherous.
Tobin said he swims on the beach year round and while the shallow end between both entrances is “safe” it still needs care.
“There’s a small jetty up there, but it’s broken and when the tide comes in, there’s a heavy pull,” he said.
“There are a lot of rough, jagged rocks at the jetty and two years ago I was caught there and my leg was completely torn. Last year I was swimming with my son. I saw a seal and lost track of where I was and suddenly I couldn’t get out of this current. My son was gone and he didn’t understand why it took me so long because it was January,” he said.
“It took me about 10 minutes to get two meters against the current. There is such a strong current against the rocks and yesterday the tide came. It’s very dangerous when the tide comes in.’
Hide tide on the beach on Monday night was just before 10:30pm.
There is one manned lifeguard hut at Sutton’s entrance to the beach, but Mr Tobin argued that more supervision is needed, especially during the busy summer months.
“If you go to Belgium or anywhere, there are lifeguards on a beach like this; they are on the sand, right on the water’s edge and they hang everywhere. If you turn around for a few seconds, someone could be gone,” he added.
As you walk up onto the beach from the Howth side, the first thing you see is a sign that reads, “Strong currents, dangerous currents.”
Paula Smith said she visits the area, from the UK, and has swam on the beach many times over the years.
“Last night, huge numbers of people came flocking down from the Dart Station,” she said.
“Yesterday morning someone said funny to me ‘the current is very strong, don’t go out too far’. The thing is it’s pretty shallow so you have to go a little far to get out of your depth… It’s just shocking.
A woman who had been swimming with Ms Smith this afternoon and who has spent decades swimming on the beach described it as “deadly”.
“I never felt safe there,” she added.
Tony O’Sullivan (86) and his wife Kay regularly cycle from their home in Drumcondra to Burrow Beach.
“It’s the speed of the current, the speed at which it goes out, that makes it really dangerous. We’ve been coming here for years and we’ve seen people get into trouble before. It is a strange beach because the tide goes a little north and small islands appear. You can see the stream that has been created from here,” Mr. O’Sullivan said.
“The only sad thing about the good weather is that sometimes tragedies can happen,” Ms O’Sullivan added.
In April last year, a 26-year-old Saudi Arabian national living in the area also drowned after getting into trouble while swimming off Whitewater Brook beach near the Baily lighthouse in Howth.