Fossils older than dinosaurs found on beach in Donegal

A casual walk on the beach at Cruit Island took a Kincasslagh father and his two sons back in time ...300 million years in fact.

Ben McGonagle and sons Liam (6) and Joseph (4) are always on the lookout for items of interest like unique rock types, sea glass, shells as well as bones from sea creatures.

On a recent walk around the Aughnish area of the island, they came across a rock that had a series of unique markings on it.

One of the unique rocks discovered at the beach on Cruit Island

"The rock was on a small beach area covered with dorleens and boulders but despite being small it stood out because of its colour and the markings on it.

"At first I thought it may just be a rock covered in bird droppings but on closer inspection, it was clear that there were fossil remains of some type on the rock.

"The predominant rock type in the area is granite which doesn't lend itself to fossil-finding and so we decided to take some pictures for further investigation."

Ben reached out to a few geologists online to see if they could help identify the fossils. Teelin native, Cormac McGinley was one of the first to respond.

He runs Cormac's Coast (cormacscoast.com) and is now based in County Clare where he leads educational excursions around the UNESCO Burren GeoPark and Cliffs of Moher.

"Having reviewed the fossil patterns on the rocks, Cormac was able to identify a Solitary Rugose Coral Fossil and a Communal Coral Fossil and estimated that these fossils date back to circa 330 million years ago!

"To put that into context, that is about 100 million years before dinosaurs began to roam the earth. Perhaps even more interesting is that at that time Ireland was located just south of the equator - we've come a long way since."

Ben believes we are so lucky to have natural history around us everywhere - we just need to get out and explore it.

"Last summer we found a seam of basalt (volcanic rock or lava) emerging out of the sea. Finding these things is a brilliant experience for kids, big and small, as it brings nature, history and geography to life."

He adds he would encourage everyone to get out exploring their coastline.

"You never know what you might find," he says.

And who knows, you might be able to travel millions of years into the past too!