Skylark explained
Flights over Ireland, explained
Plain answers to the questions people in Ireland ask when they look up: what that plane is, why it is circling, why it is so low, which runway Dublin is using and what the military is doing. Every fact is sourced.
The questions
3 sources
What plane is flying over my house right now?
The quick way to name the aircraft over your roof, and why a few never show up on any tracker.
10 sources
Why are planes circling over Dublin?
Holding patterns, Dublin’s Point Merge arcs, go-arounds and the days wind and weather cause them.
15 sources
Why is a plane flying low over my house?
Approach paths, Garda and Coast Guard helicopters, survey planes, training flights, and how to report low flying to the IAA.
9 sources
Dublin Airport runways and flight paths
Why Dublin usually lands from the sea, the north runway’s hours, the crosswind runway, and where flights go.
10 sources
Military aircraft over Ireland
The Irish Air Corps fleet, US military traffic through Shannon, RAF jets, and why some never appear on trackers.
4 sources
Got an ADS-B receiver in Ireland?
Add Skylark beside the feeds your Pi already runs, and help fill the map outside Dublin.
3 sources
Why flight trackers miss aircraft
Receiver coverage, old observations and missing positions, with checks for readers in the UK and Europe.
More from Skylark
The live sky over Ireland
The aircraft Skylark receives, on a map, a live board and a 3D view.
The aircraft library
The airliner types seen over Ireland, how to tell them apart and where they came from.
The ADS-B field guide
How aircraft broadcast their position, and how to build a receiver of your own.
Irish airports
Live pages for the airports around the island.
Dublin Airport wind and weather
The live wind, the full METAR and which runway the wind favours.
Sources
Each explainer lists every source it cites. These are the official publications they lean on most, checked on 29 September 2026.
- Runway operationsdaa, Dublin Airport
- AIP Ireland, AD 2 EIDW Dublin, valid from 6 August 2026AirNav Ireland
- IAA Point Merge: optimising air traffic control at Ireland’s busiest airportIrish Aviation Authority
- Low flying aircraft (including helicopters)Irish Aviation Authority
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, SERA.5005 Visual flight ruleslegislation.gov.uk
- Regulation 1207/2011: requirements for the performance and the interoperability of surveillance for the Single European SkySKYbrary
- Why Shannon Airport is a key gateway for the US militaryRTÉ News