Historic Donegal pier closed to public

The historic pier located next to Ards Friary, Creeslough, has been closed to the public due to safety concerns.

In recent weeks the area, located on the shore on the exit drive from the Friary, has been cordoned off.

In recent years the area has been a popular location for fishermen and other day trippers to the area, but the sands of time have caught up with the aging structure.

Last weekend, Brother Richard Hendrick told the congregation that the pier had been surveyed by an architect and was deemed unsafe due to the impact the constant ebb and flow of the tide has had on the surrounding sands in the pier area.

One local resident said that they were told that it was not a matter of “if but when” the marine structure would begin to collapse, and therefore it was decided to close it off in the interest of public safety.

The pier was first built in the 1940s to facilitate the shipping of silica sand from Muckish mountain that went to glass manufacturers in Belfast, Scotland and England.

Tonnes of the sand were stored at the harbour before they were loaded onto boats that had to wait until high tide to enter and leave the pier, right up until the sand industry ceased in the early 1950s.