Large 'outer space' hole discovered on Irish beach raises eyebrows

Media claims that a meteor caused a large hole found recently on a beach in Ireland have been met with scepticism, after social media users claimed they dug the hole themselves.

A dog walker found a crater on Portmarnock beach near Dublin, which he believed was created by a meteor strike – and he even found a black rock which could have been the meteor in question.

Virgin Media was quick to the scene, with a reporter saying: “This is a suspected meteor strike in Dublin.

“[The dog walker] came across this unusual crater yesterday when he was walking his dog on Portmarnock beach, and inside it, he found this.”

Holding the suspected meteor in her hands, the reporter added: “It’s a rock that is heavier than what it might look. It’s heavier than one you might expect to pick up in this area, and it’s flat on one side, and you’ve got these kind of scorch marks on the side as well.

“He suspects that this was a meteor strike that created, the impact of it, the force of it, created that crater behind me.

“All that’s left now is for him to get it tested to see if this can be confirmed as a meteor strike in Dublin.”

However, some people on social media appeared to burst the bubble.

An account on X/Twitter by @spochadóir showed what appeared to be footage of two men digging the hole themselves.

“Lads I’m in bits. Virgin Media news is after reporting on a hole on Portmarnock beach that ‘Could be the aftermath of a cosmic event’. Some fellas literally dug it the day before with a kid’s shovel.

“The way your man was talking about the rock being an asteroid had me in tears.”

However, @spochadóir’s post caused a torrent of comments mocking the dog walker, whose first name was Dave. The poster was quick to denounce any criticism.

“Some of you freaks are being very f****** weird about Dave, who by all accounts is just a guy who got excited when he found a big hole and a cool rock. People have been doing that for thousands of years ye a**eholes. Don’t be w*****s.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.