Irish stayations: Discover that beach and make it your own
Ballycroneen Beach, East Cork, one of the beautiful beaches awaiting nature lovers all along Ireland's coastlines.
Those who regularly travel abroad for their holidays will talk of the wonderful beaches of Majorca, the Canaries, Italy, the French Riviera, even Florida and California.
But have you seen them, or glimpsed online images? Packed. Jammed solid from foreshore to water’s edge, and beyond that as well. Thousands of sun umbrellas, sunbeds, folding chairs, and picnic rugs occupy every inch of sand, while the approach road is gridlocked with drivers frantically searching for a place to park their car.
The first stretch of open sea certainly isn’t open; you would have to push your way through the paddling, splashing, shrieking crowds of bathers even to get out as far as the surfboarders, jet skiers, and kayakers.
That’s where Ireland scores way up the scale. Even in the height of summer, you are able to find quiet beaches and remote strands where you can stop all day to dream and relax.
In spring and autumn, it’s common to find completely deserted seashores, with not a soul to see except the occasional ringed plover or gull. We may not have scorching 30-degree sunshine, but that’s more of a benefit when you consider the health risks to your skin. Soft breezes and drifting clouds are more our thing.
Co Cork is more blessed than most with its choice of seaside locations, whether for a day out with the family or a longer break. Within easy reach are so many – Garrettstown, Robert’s Cove, Rocky Bay to the west, Youghal, Ballycroneen and Ballybrannigan to the east. Further into the west, you have Inchydoney, Red Strand, Owenahincha, and The Warren. And of course, that Mecca on the Mizen, Barley Cove.
Back in the day, when not everyone had a car, Robert’s Cove was a very popular choice for a Sunday outing by bus. While children paddled, men lay on the beach and listened to the match on transistor radios, and young couples wandered up the bracken-covered hillsides on either side. The bay still retains that old-world charm and sense of peace and quiet, and it’s the ideal place for a day out with the family.
Garrettstown has always been popular and it seems even more so now that there are surfing classes for the eager, travelling saunas for those in search of luxury, and a plethora of coffee and food wagons to supply your every need. The beach (or beaches really) stretch so far here that you could easily miss finding a friend you had intended to meet. And you are close to the superb Old Head promontory with its lighthouse, and legendary Kinsale itself just down the road.
Youghal has been the summer holiday destination for generations of Corkonians, first with the much-loved steam train service, and then by road. Here again the beach stretches for miles, along to Clay Castle and Redbarn, with the remains of ancient wooden breakwaters still standing proud on the foreshore, striving, as always, to hold back the mighty ocean. Being so close to the town itself, it offers two destinations in one, the shops and cafes being conveniently at hand for those who want to leave the shore for a while.
Down beyond Clonakilty you find Inchydoney with not just one but two beaches stretching to either side of the promontory where the spa hotel stands. Inchydoney is in fact an island, although you aren’t really aware of the fact when you are driving onto it.
There is so much space here that you could get all the exercise you need just heading to the furthest point on either side. These are splendid sands, ideal for buckets and spades, for sunbathing, for picnicking, for everything in fact. You won’t go wrong with Inchydoney, although in the height of summer it is best to get there early. While there is plenty of space on the beach, on those narrow roads the parking is limited.
Further along, Red Strand and Owenahincha are very popular, but for something a little different, head for The Warren, with its delightful walks in the sand dunes and quiet shoreline.
Do we even need to mention Barley Cove, beloved by so many? This was first discovered as the ideal holiday spot in the Sixties, when not only had more people got cars, but those cars were capable of driving further afield on the better roads we were gradually creating. And what a beach that is. Bagh na hEornan, Barley Cove, its name probably deriving from a shipwreck carrying grain long ago.
Staying in the hotel at the start of the road to Mizen Head, you can stroll down through the grounds to the beach; for those parking by the sand dunes, there is a seasonal pontoon bridge (the delight of every child) bridging the little river which separates the dunes from the main beach. Once you’re there, the views are truly wonderful, the flanking arms of Brow Head and Mizen Head framing a tranquil sea and skyscape with the occasional passing ship to be glimpsed in the distance.
And of course, you can always end the day by wandering down to Crookhaven village and enjoying food and drink on the quayside while watching yachts arrive and moor in the harbour that has been known and used for centuries by boats on their way to and from the New World. It’s the angle of Crookhaven – or ‘Crooked Haven’ - towards the northeast that makes it sheltered from the prevailing south westerly winds and therefore safe for shipping.
Going further afield? The sheer length of Inch Strand in Kerry (where they filmed The Playboy of the Western World) takes your breath away. When the tides are right (but do check the warning sign for times) you can drive right out on the sands here and along to your own particular choice of picnicking spot. Just watch for the incoming tides though!
Further down in Kerry, Ballyheigue Beach, also known as Banna Strand, is famed as the place where Roger Casement landed in 1916 to play his part in the Easter Rising. It holds many memories, and is a wild and wonderful place to wander, far from cities and modern worries.
Prefer to head east? Ardmore in Co Waterford has been popular with holidaymakers for a century. Then there’s Ballinesker Beach in Wexford, where those famed scenes in Saving Private Ryan were filmed. Up the coast towards Dublin, Brittas Bay has splendid stretches of golden sand, ideal for a caravan holiday.
Whatever you do, make time to discover the incredible silver strands of our west coast, where the combination of bleached shells and corals make these iconic beaches glitter and gleam. When you glimpse them from a distance, they take your breath away with their beauty. There is one near Doonbeg in Co Clare, another out beyond Galway in the Claddagh, and perhaps the most famous, Silver Strand in Co Mayo. These are special places indeed, experiences that you will never forget.
Another thing to remember: A great many film companies choose Ireland for their shooting plans because they can still find remote or deserted locations here, whereas the original site where the events in their film took place is now so built up, changed, overcrowded, that it would be impossible to recapture earlier times. We are truly fortunate in this and should take every opportunity to enjoy what we still have here. Make this the year you discover your beach.
