128 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



'• Coast-line " : " The coast is low, and for the most part sandy, int-er- 

 mpted in a few places by fringes of rock ; it is unbroken from Kil- 

 micliael Point to tke Eaven Point : but fi'om tkis to Vaterford 

 Harbour it is much, indented by inlets." 



In the Proceedings, Eoy. Ir. Academy, Series ii., Science, vol. iii. 

 (1877-83), !Mr. Gfeorge H. Ejnahan published a Paper on Sea-beaches, 

 especially those of TTexford and "Wicklo^n^, of which the following are 

 extracts : — 



(p. 191.) — "Dm'irig the time I have been engaged on the G-eolo- 

 gical Survey of Ireland (over twenty years) I have had, when stationed 

 in maritime districts, favourable oppoi'tunities of obseiwing the sea- 

 beaches. This has been especially so during the last six years 

 while I have been engaged in examining the counties of Wicklow and 

 Vesf ord, and in these yeai's the observations made were both numerous 

 and minute." 



(p. 192.) — "The western Saltee cuiTent nms north-east to Kilmore 

 Pier, where it turns westwai'd, and forms the ' counter tide ' that 

 meets the Hook current at the Keragh Island. At the meeting of 

 these two ciurents a shoal has accumulated. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances the current from Hook carries the beach with it only to the 

 neighbourhood of Keragh, as proved by the fact that the stones fi'om 

 Hook promontory are rarely found beyond Keragh. The ' counter 

 tide ' west of Kilmore carries the beach north-west along Ballyteige 

 Bay, and duiing the last 40 years (since the Ordnance Map was made) 

 has lengthened the Ballyteige sand-bills more than 200 feet." 



(p. 193.) — " The Cahore shingle beach is about 3 miles long, and 

 is largely composed of fragments of the Greenore and Carnsore rocks ; 

 with these there are others from the cliffs along the Blackwater 

 coast. Opposite Courtown (north of Cahore) is the ' nodal,'' or ' hinge- 

 line,' of the tides on the south portion of the Irish Sea, where the 

 rise is least and the current greatest. The refuse from the shipping 

 at Courtown Harbour, such as bits of brick, tile, slate, coal, &c., are 

 principally stranded along the beach a few miles south-west of Kil- 

 michael Point. On this beach, Greenore and Carnsore rock fragments 

 are not uncommon ; but in the two small bays to the north of the 

 Point the gravel and shingle is made up almost solely of the local 

 rocks, many of the fragments being more or less angular. The debris 

 from the shipping at Arklow is principally beached on the sta'and 

 south-west of Mizen Head. 



(p. 195.) — ^^ The effects of the TVind Waves: The waves of this 

 class that act on this coast are of two kinds, viz., ' ground swells,' or 



