A former fishing pier on the Loughros Point road, Ardara, has been restored following weeks of work. Known locally as St. John’s Pier, it was built in around 1903 to accommodate boats used to fish the Loughros Mor Bay for herring.

Before the pier was built the area housed a fish curing plant. Now it is hoped that tourists and bird watchers will be attracted to the location. The work to the pier, which has included cutting back overgrowth to the original stone walls on the approach lane, clearing the site of unwanted debris, and constructing a platform for a seat and table, has been carried out by Peter Boyle and Charlie Breslin following an approach from the local Tidy Towns Committee.

And for bird watchers the location could become something of a mecca. Recent counts carried out by Emer Magee, Conservation Ranger for the National Park and Wildlife Service, indicate that at least 17 species will be seen from the pier during the year, including the Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Mute Swan, Heron, Curlew and Sedge Warbler. It is planned in time to have a name plate, and illustrated details of the various birds, positioned at the pier.

The clearing of the pier offers just one more location from which visitors can enjoy both the abundance of bird life in this area and see the unique views of the bay. We are very grateful to those who have carried out this project,² said Jack Maguire, Chairman of Ardara Tidy Towns.

Strangely, history records that the pier’s life was relatively short lived. Myth has it that after fishermen decided to fish on a Sunday, the herring mysteriously disappeared! However, it was used up until the 1950¹s by boats engaged in salmon fishing.