In 1997 Steven Spielberg picked this stretch of Wexford coast to stand in for Omaha Beach, and the D-Day landing that opens Saving Private Ryan was filmed here over roughly eleven weeks, with a crew of around 1,500. The resemblance to Normandy, simpler logistics than filming in France, and the tax breaks of the day all sealed it. Local people were taken on as extras, playing American and German soldiers in the surf. The flat central run of sand where the boats came in is still here; the sets and props left with the production.
That cinematic afterlife aside, Ballinesker is a working Wexford beach: a Blue Flag strand of soft, wind-blown sand, one of three connected beaches (with Curracloe and Culletons Gap) that run for about 16km from Raven Point to Ballyconniger Head. It has held its Blue Flag since May 2015, so the water quality is reliably good. If you only do one thing here, walk it – turn either way from the car park and you have the better part of an hour’s open sand ahead of you, with the dunes on one side and the Irish Sea on the other.
The dunes and the birds
The dune system behind the beach is a Special Area of Conservation, held together by native marram grass that traps the drifting sand. It backs onto the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, which makes the shoreline a decent spot for birdwatching: oystercatchers, curlews and redshanks work the tideline on the spring and autumn passages, and in winter geese cross overhead heading south. Grey seals turn up offshore on calm mornings. Dawn and dusk are the productive times; stay on the marked paths through the dunes in the spring breeding season so you are not flushing ground-nesting birds.
Swimming and safety
Lifeguards are on duty over the summer, roughly June to September, and the water is generally calm enough for a dip. Outside those months there is no cover, the water is cold, and swimming is best left alone. The sand shelves gently, which suits families and paddlers. As anywhere on this coast, check the tide before a long walk – the lower beach towards Ballyconniger Head opens out a long way at low water – and expect wind even on a bright day.
Getting there and parking
The beach sits about 8km north of Wexford town, signed off the R742 shortly after the Curracloe turn. The car park is roughly 200 metres back from the water and holds about 50 cars plus two disabled bays; on a warm summer weekend it can be full by mid-morning, so come early or on a weekday. From the car park the wooden boardwalk takes you over the dunes to the sand. There is no bus to the beach itself – the nearest services run the R742 corridor, leaving a short taxi hop to the entrance.
Toilets at the car park entrance are open full-time in June, July and August and on the Easter and May long weekends; there is no accessible toilet. Dogs are welcome on the beach. Make a half-day of it by combining the strand with Raven Point Wood to the south (red squirrels, mixed woodland trails) or the Irish National Heritage Park, both inside about twenty minutes’ drive.