Skerries, Dublin 5.78

Skerries is a seaside town in north County Dublin, Ireland. The name comes from the Norse word skere which has descended into the Irish word na sceirí which means the rocks. Skerries is also a parish in the Fingal North deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.GeographySkerries has five islands off its coast called Shenick Island, St Patrick's, Colt and Rockabill. Rockabill is in fact two islands, "The Cow" and "The Calf", separated by a narrow channel. There is also Red Island, which is a tied island. The town itself is built around two long streets - Strand Street and Church Street and between the surrounding hills of North Fingal and low-lying beaches. Skerries South Strand is a long sandy beach 2.5 km long. Red Island, Mill Hill, Hillside, The public Ardgillan Park and Demesne, Barnageera and to a lesser extent Baldungan Castle are high points on which you can look over the town.Rockabill has the largest numbers of breeding roseate terns in Europe. It is also the farthest away from the town and has a lighthouse which is located 4 miles from the closest path on Red Island. On Shenick Island can be found a Martello tower, one of a number of defensive towers erected during the Napoleonic era along the Irish coast by the British. The tower is 1 mile from the great windmill and approximately 1 mile from another Martello tower on Red Island and the Monument on Strand Street. Shenick is accessible on foot at the lowest tides, but this is inadvisable, due to the relatively rapid fill caused by the turning tide. The other islands are harder to reach, but it is possible by boat. St Patrick's Island is so called because this is where the Irish patron saint is reputed to have landed and begun his mission to convert the country to Christianity.