Lost Beach Emerges in Ireland After Disappearing 33 Years Ago

It's the miracle of Easter in Achill Island. An Irish beach that was lost over 30 years ago has reappeared after a freak tide, to the delight of local residents.

According to a report from The Guardian, the beach Dooagh was wiped out after storms hit Achill Island in 1984. It was left a ragged strip of rocks and rock pools until Easter this year when hundreds of tonnes of sand were dumped in the very same area by a freak tide. Just overnight, the 300-meter golden sand beach was restored.

"In the space of about eight or 10 days, these very strong winds came from the north," Sean Molloy of Achill Tourism explained to CNN. "Apparently what that does is, it blows the surface water back, because this is a south-facing beach. The sea then takes the sands underneath and brings the sands up. That's what I've been told."

Locals rejoiced at the reappearance of the beach, basking in the "new" picturesque sight of the coastline. Tourists have also flocked to the village to see the beach that has cut short its 33-year absence.

"We have a beautiful little village as it is, but it is great to look out and see this beautiful beach instead of just rocks," Alan Gielty, the owner of a restaurant near the coast, pointed out to The Guardian. "Since people have seen the news of the beach, we have had plenty more visitors from the middle of the country."

Achille Island is the country's largest island with a dramatic landscape of jagged cliffs and rolling beaches. It's a particularly popular place for writers, especially those who visit Nobel Prize award-winning Heinrich Böll's old cottage in the island. The island consists of 3,000 people, and its main economy is tourism.