Yikes.

We were under the impression that a certain saint had effectively dealt with all the snakes in Ireland.

To our horror, it turns out we were mistaken.

The brave members of the Irish Coastguard tweeted this picture of a rather lengthy snake they were called out to retrieve from the beach in Youghal today.

A slippery start to 2019 for the team in Youghal with the discovery of a sea snake. The national Coast Guard control centre was informed, due to the unavailability of St. Patrick Cork County Council was requested. Time well serpent by the team..#irishcoastguard #snake pic.twitter.com/oMMr0R2fo8

— Irish Coast Guard (@IrishCoastGuard) January 3, 2019

Despite the alarming call-out, the Coast Guard team dealt with the situation with professionalism and a hefty dose of good humour, posting:

‘A slippery start to 2019 for the team in Youghal with the discovery of a sea snake. The national Coast Guard control centre was informed, due to the unavailability of St. Patrick Cork County Council was requested. Time well serpent by the team…’

The sea snake, which stretched to 1.5m in length, was removed by animal experts at the scene.