Christmas Day swims: Ireland's bravest souls take to the sea on a bright but bitterly cold day

Thu, 25 Dec, 2025 - 17:52

The oceans and seas around Ireland were filled with screams and shouts on Christmas Day — and it was not out of shock at the wondrous gifts that Santa had delivered.

Some braved the waves today in little more than a Santa hat and a lashing of fake tan.

Kevin Twomey, Amy Winning, Siobhan O’Shea, Pádraig Wilson McCarthy, and Faye Ormond enjoying their Christmas Day swim at a sunny Myrtleville, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Others exposed their pale freckled bodies to the freezing water.

They looked smugly at those who had decided to cover virtually every inch of skin in a thick layer of neoprene.

Dozens of hardy souls racing to the water for the Golden Jubilee Christmas Day Swim at Broadstrand, Courtmacsherry, West Cork. They were raising funds for the Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Unit at Cork University Hospital and Horizons Cork (Cope Foundation) which support adults and children with intellectual disabilities. Picture: Martin Walsh

From the (comparatively) warmer beach, dogs barked at their owners who were venturing into the depths, the only thing stopping them from joining them being the rather more sane people at the other end of the lead who had come along to offer moral support.

Patrick Corkery from Castleknock plunged into the Forty Foot in Sandycove, Dublin, in a Santa hat and beard. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

In the water there was the usual divide.

There were those who stepped into the water at a glacially slow pace, letting out screeches as the water tipped off one sensitive area after another until finally they were at the point where it was ‘now or never’ and they let themselves drop.

Martina Hooley, Jo Breslin, Linda Donoghue, Tara Buckley, and Za McCarthy took the plunge in Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Others tore across the shallows and into the depths, flinging themselves into the water before the full impact of the cold could put them off.

One participant's reaction to the icy cold water at the Forty Foot in Sandycove, Dublin, sums up everyone's notion of diving into the sea for a Christmas Day swim. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

There was also the usual sight of people coming out of the water and then going back in and uttering those maddening words to those who were entering for the first time: “It is always easier the second time you go back in”.

Ava Collins and Roisín, Fiona, and Danny Tonge, with Sam and Sarah Collins were well wrapped up following their Christmas Day swim in Youghal Co Cork. Picture: Howard Crowdy

From beaches all along the 1,200km coastline of Cork — at locations including Youghal, Myrtleville, Courtmacsherry, and Fountainstown — to Blackrock Pier at Salthill in Galway, and the Forty Foot in Dublin’s Sandycove, the Christmas atmosphere was undimmed by the cold conditions as people home for the holidays met friends and acquaintances they may not have seen for months.

Juliette Collins, Rochestown, and Jill Donegan, Douglas, at the Christmas Day swim in Fountainstown, Co Cork. Picture: David Creedon

It is a typically Irish, typically quirky pastime, the Christmas swims. And you can bet there will be more screams, curses, and laughter as more people fling themselves into the waves today.

• See more photos from Ireland's Christmas Day swims here: In Pictures: Thousands take to sea for Christmas Day swims.

Meet more of our hardy Christmas Day swimmers