Loud Banging noises in Portmarnock!

Sar!

Can anyone else living out Portmarnock way hear the loud bangs that have been happening roughly every 30 mins in the morning and every 15 mins in the evening?

There are three loud bangs at any one time (almost like gunshots) one after the other and then they stop. They seem to start at 6am every day (including sunday) and stop at 9pm.

This has been going on for about a week now and I even rang the Gardai in Malahide yesterday to ask did they know anything about it and they dont have a clue!! (They did say they would send a car out to Kinsealy but i never heard anything else about it!)

I have even checked to see am i going mad and asked the neighbours and everyone can hear it too! Someone mentioned the army training and that it could be them testing guns out at sea???? (A little odd i thought!) and someone else mentioned the Quarry in Kinsealy (which is the direction its coming from) but they wouldnt be working there on a Sunday and it was all day that day!

Please can anyone put me outta my misery and tell me what is causing it!

(Right when i posted this it just happened again )

Chinafoot

Well I know that the army training down in Gormanstown has been happening lately as there've been loads of bangs heard in Balbriggan over the past few days.

Might seem a bit far to be hearing it in Portmarnock but other than that I've no idea.

Wishbone Ash

Are you near a tillage/cereal area? It could possibly be a crop banger for scaring birds. They usually operate 7am to 7pm though.

Sar!

I just found out that the army supposedly have to be finished at 4 and only start at 8 so youre probably right as we shouldnt be able to hear that far away....

Im in the apartments opposite the Station at Portmarnock so not sure if there are fields nearby - good suggestion though i dont ever remember hearing it before and I have been here about 2 and a half years now. Its really weird as it stopped again tonight at 9pm.

Its so loud it scares off the birds on our bird feeder outside so could be for scaring birds i guess!

Wishbone Ash

Sar! wrote:

good suggestion though i dont ever remember hearing it before and I have been here about 2 and a half years now. Its really weird as it stopped again tonight at 9pm.

Its so loud it scares off the birds on our bird feeder outside so could be for scaring birds i guess!

You may not have heard it before because the land may have been in grass or a non-vulnerable tillage. The present crop may be particularly susceptible to birds. They are not permitted to operate at night.

Sar!

Thank you very much - that makes total sense!
There is a massive field about 2 mins down the road (not that i am an expert and know whats growing in it!) and Im going to take a drive over by the field tomorrow evening just to see if it gets louder! At least it might stop driving me as crazy if i know what it is!

Wishbone Ash

Sar! wrote:

Thank you very much - that makes total sense!
There is a massive field about 2 mins down the road (not that i am an expert and know whats growing in it!) and Im going to take a drive over by the field tomorrow evening just to see if it gets louder! At least it might stop driving me as crazy if i know what it is!

They are usually gas operated. You may see a sort of tripod with a gas cylinder hanging beneath it.

Wishbone Ash

This may be of interest to you Sar! http://www.fingalcoco.ie/minutes/2002/Mha/0131/MHA20020098.htm

ixoy

Hey Sar - I've been hearing it too. I'm in the Links so pretty much right beside you. I was wondering what it was - bird scaring devices does seem to fit the bill.

Fortunately, after the noise that was Smithfield, this is so comparatively quiet that it doesn't bother me. Although I did awake at 6am recently because two magpies were fighting outside my window so the devices aren't good enough

Wishbone Ash

ixoy wrote:

two magpies were fighting outside my window so the devices aren't good enough

But they weren't in the crop so it's probably working!

Sar!

LOL - that whole crazy bird thing must be some sort of symptom of the banging seeing as we had a pigeon try to peck its way through a window into our place the other morning!

We are in Seabrook so just down from the Links and if you guys can hear it too in the Links then thats pretty much the whole of Station road hearing it! :mad:

Its actually beginning to really bug me as its a whole week now but that Fingal post makes for interesting reading. Im wondering if they need a license for "the banger" and also Im wondering if its over the permitted decible level considering we can hear it over our TV! Its also definitely over the allowed 12 hours per day too. Would this be something for Fingal then to look into?

ixoy

Just heard it again there now. It's (relatively) unobtrusive here but still audible.

Wishbone Ash

In fairness, you have to feel some sympathy for the growers, many of whom were there long before the proliferation of housing. They are faced with ever decreasing margins and the expectation of top quality produce. I don't envy them in their fight against the crows (and their new neighbours )!



EDIT: 4,000th post. :eek: *heads off to get a life*

ixoy

Saw this potential noise maker in a nearby field (in attached pic) - bet it's the source of the noise! It's in the middle of a field of crops and, when I was passing it, it seemed to emit that shot.

The field in question is near enough the OP - go to the top of Station Road, take a left and go about 50m. It's in the field on your right.

Wishbone Ash

ixoy wrote:

Saw this potential noise maker in a nearby field (in attached pic) - bet it's the source of the noise!

Yup - the very thing!

Sar!

Thats exactly what it was - and believe it or not there was another one slightly further down the road only banging at a different time to the yellow one hence there was so many in succession making noise!

Thanks to all for this! So glad to know what it is even though it seems to have thankfully stopped now