Rogerstown Estuary () is a sea inlet and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is situated just north of the

Donabate Donabate () is a small coastal town in Fingal, Ireland, about north-northeast of Dublin. The town is on a peninsula on Ireland's east coast, between the Rogerstown Estuary to the north and Broadmeadow Estuary to the south. Donabate is a civil ...

Portrane Portrane or Portraine (Irish: ''Port Reachrann'') is a small seaside settlement, three kilometres from,the small town of Donabate in Fingal, Ireland. It lies in the Barony of Nethercross, in the historic County Dublin. Portrane has a long sa ...

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

, and also south of

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

, on Ireland's east coast about north of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. It is a designated nature reserve, Special Area of Conservation, and a Ramsar site. The main flow into the estuary comes from the

Ballyboghil River The Ballyboghil River or Ballyboughal Water is a river in Fingal, in the traditional County Dublin, about long, reaching the sea by way of the -long estuary. One of the larger watercourses by volume in the north County Dublin, the Ballyboghil ...

and its terminal tributary, the Corduff Stream. Other watercourses entering the estuary include one from Portrane, Balleally Stream, and also Bride's Stream and Jone's Stream, from the Lusk area, and a number of small flows. The estuary is made up of saltwater marshes, raised salt marsh, wet meadows and riverine shallows and creeks. It covers an area of , and is divided by a causeway and bridge built in the 1840s to carry the main Dublin–

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

railway line. It is internationally recognised as one of the most important east coast sites and is vital for wintering wildfowl and waders and birds on passage. Birds come to the estuary from the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

. It supports an internationally important population of

Brent Geese The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus ''Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after ...

and a further 14 species in numbers of national importance. The former Balleally landfill site located by the railway causeway was landscaped and reopened as Rogerstown Park in 2019. The site is a statutory Nature Reserve and a candidate

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

under the E.U. Habitats Directive. The estuary's mouth separates the beaches of Portrane and Rush, and the mouth is so narrow, it is theorised that a person would be able to cross from Rush to Portrane at a gradual walking pace, within a time span of less than a minute, if there was no water. According to local

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

, there was once a bridge across the mouth, however, it was dismantled after various

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

s. An apparent remain of this bridge still exists today, on the beach at Portrane. The townland of Turvey touches on the estuary. It is associated with the

Goban Saor Goban may refer to: People * Saint Gobain or Goban, a 7th-century Irish Benedictine monk * Saint Goban, a 6th-century Irish Benedictine monk and abbot, brother to Molaise of Leighlin Game * '' goban'', the board used for the game of Go The ...

described as the son of Tuirbe Tragmar ("thrower of axes"), a figure whose magical axe would hold back the sea after it was thrown on the

strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

. This feat was said to have been performed at ''Tráig Tuirbi'', Tuirbe's Strand or Turvey.
n.125 Tráig Tuirbi, in The Rennes Dindshenchas, edited by Whitney Stokes, pages 76-77, Revue Celtiques 16 (1895)

References

{{Reflist Landforms of Fingal Estuaries of Ireland Drainage basins of the Irish Sea Bodies of water of the Republic of Ireland Nature reserves in the Republic of Ireland Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland Ramsar sites in the Republic of Ireland Nethercross