Runkerry Stand

This 500-meter-long sandy beach stretches along the northwest coast with an 80-meter width, backed by distinctive two-phase sand dunes featuring older reddish formations from 5,000-6,000 years ago and younger pale dunes from 4,000 years ago.

The beach formed after the last Midlandian glaciation when melting ice sheets caused land uplift and falling sea levels 12,000 years ago, followed by dune formation through wind action around 7,000-6,500 years ago as sea levels rose again.

The nearby Victorian Runkerry House, built in the 1860s for Sir Edward Macnaghten, stands as a sandstone mansion overlooking the beach and now serves as private apartments, representing the area's architectural heritage.

Visitors can access the beach via pathways from Portballintrae end beyond Bushfoot Golf Club, with the Giants Causeway and Bushmills Railway offering scenic 15-minute journeys four times daily on weekends through the dunes.

The beach demonstrates exceptional morphodynamics with sand bars that form parallel to the coast during winter storms, creating protective barriers and rip current channels that reshape the shoreline seasonally.

Location: Northern Ireland / Tuaisceart Éireann

Address: Runkerry Beach, Portballintrae, Bushmills BT57 8YW, UK BT57 8YW Portballintrae

GPS coordinates: 55.22368,-6.53188

Latest update: August 22, 2025 13:24