Northern Ireland has a small number of coastal fossil hunting locations, with some productive sites along the Antrim coast. White Park Bay, located northwest of Ballycastle, yields Mesozoic fossils including ammonites, belemnites, and Gryphaea from exposed strata.
Additional sites included from Ireland, such as the Hook Head peninsula in County Waterford, are known for abundant and well-preserved Carboniferous fossils. These deposits provide a rich source of marine fossil material.
Although fewer in number compared to mainland UK locations, these sites still offer opportunities to collect fossils from a range of geological periods.
Just north of Larne harbour, Waterloo Bay exposes a remarkable Late Triassic to Early Jurassic succession. The dark mudstones of the Waterloo Mudstone Formation contain ammonites, bivalves and other marine fossils, while the older beds record changing coastal environments before the Jurassic seas. This scientifically important foreshore is an Area of Special Scientific Interest. Jurassic, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
White Park Bay on the north Antrim coast brings together Jurassic ammonites, fossil-bearing nodules and Cretaceous chalk in a broad sandy bay. Intermittent mudstone exposures around Oweynamuck contrast with the chalk cliffs and boulder-strewn shore towards Portbraddan. This protected coast rewards careful observation, with fossils best photographed in place unless the necessary collecting permission and consent have been established. Cretaceous, Jurassic, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦
North of Portmarnock, the Robswalls rocky shore exposes fossil-rich Lower Carboniferous limestone beside Coast Road. Between the coast south-east of Malahide and the Carrickhill Martello tower, weathered platforms reveal corals, crinoids, bryozoans and shells. Faults and folds repeat parts of the succession, making this a rewarding place to study fossils in their original rock. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
East of Malahide town centre, the small bay beside the village green offers a close look at fossil-bearing limestone pebbles. Crinoids, bryozoans, shells and corals record the Lower Carboniferous seas of the surrounding coast. This guide covers the loose beach material beside the slipway and tennis club, a different experience from the rocky platforms farther towards Portmarnock. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
The rocky shore beside Hook Lighthouse, in County Wexford, exposes fossil-rich Carboniferous limestone. Crinoids, brachiopods, corals and delicate bryozoan colonies can be seen weathering from its bedding surfaces. This is an exposed Atlantic headland and a protected shore: enjoy the fossils in place, with photography and careful observation at the centre of your visit. Carboniferous, Foreshore, Rating: ♦♦♦♦
