Dún Briste
A sea stack.
NTF30 — CC BY 4.0 · Gunther Tschuch — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michael Deligan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michael Deligan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michael Deligan — CC BY-SA 4.0
Downpatrick Head is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of north County Mayo, Ireland, about 6 km north of the village of Ballycastle and about 26 km northwest of Ballina in a straight line. Facing it in the sea stands the stack Dún Briste, its best-known sight. Dún Briste is about 45 metres high, 63 metres long and 23 metres wide. It is made of sedimentary rock layers around 350 million years old, and it was joined to the mainland until it broke away in 1393, according to local records, leaving it standing alone in the sea. The sides of the stack show horizontal layers in brown, grey and red, stacked like the pages of a book. Seabirds wheel around it, Atlantic waves break at its base, and green turf runs across the headland to the very edge of the cliff. Visitors walk across the grass from the car park to the edge of the headland to see Dún Briste and the cliffs. The edges are high and unfenced, so keep a safe distance, especially in strong wind. The best times are at sunset or after a storm, when the waves are high.
A sea stack.
350 million years old.
Turf to the edge.
Near Ballycastle, north County Mayo, Ireland
No, so keep a safe distance.
Sunset or after a storm.