Carnsore Point is where Ireland decided not to go nuclear. From 1968 the state planned up to four reactors on this low granite headland in the southeast corner of County Wexford; after the 1973 oil crisis the plan was pushed hard, then sunk by a sustained protest campaign. Between 1978 and 1981 the anti-nuclear rallies here drew thousands, with Christy Moore playing and the German Green politician Petra Kelly among the speakers. One of the local activists, Adi Roche, went on to found the Chernobyl Children’s charity. The reactors were never built. In 2003 the ESB put up a 12 MW wind farm on the same ground instead, which is the closest thing the point has to a monument.
That history is the reason to come, because there is no visitor centre, no plaque and not much else to look at: a scatter of turbines, a lighthouse, flat fields running into the sea. Bring the story with you or the place won’t tell it.
Walking the loop
The walk is the thing here. The Carnsore Point Loop is a waymarked 8km circuit (about 5 miles) starting and finishing at Carne Pier car park, following red discs. It’s flat and easy, rated an hour and three-quarters at a steady pace, though the sandy sections slow you down and you’ll want longer. You pass Nethertown and Churchtown beaches on the way round if you fancy a swim.
If you do one thing, time it for low tide. That’s when the intertidal reefs of coarse pink-brown Carnsore granite open up for rock-pooling and scrambling, and it’s the same stone that was shipped to London in the 1800s to help build the Thames Embankment. Dogs are welcome but must stay on a lead for grazing stock and nesting birds. April to August is the better stretch for the walk.
What you’ll find on the headland
The point itself carries small, easily missed traces of its past. St Vauk’s Stone, an old archaeological marker, sits a couple of hundred metres northeast of the tip, and the ruined concrete lookout just north is a World War Two aircraft warning station, one of the chain of coast-watching posts built around neutral Ireland. There’s also a long local tradition, recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, that a community of sun-worshipping druids kept a temple here, fitting for the headland that anchors Ireland’s self-styled ‘Sunny South East’. Ptolemy’s 2nd-century Geography marked a ‘sacred promontory’ (Hieron) that historians place here too.
For a coffee or a pint at the end of the loop, the Lobster Pot at the Carne crossroads is the obvious stop.
Wildlife
The reefs and mudflats off the point are protected as the Carnsore Point Special Area of Conservation (site code 002269), designated for its sandflats, rocky reefs and harbour porpoise, which pass the headland in calm conditions. The shoreline is a known spot for watching seabirds on passage in spring and autumn. For freshwater birds, the two coastal lakes a little inland, Lady’s Island and Tacumshin, are the better bet; Lady’s Island also has a ruined Augustinian priory and Norman castle and is still a pilgrimage site.
Getting there and parking
Start at Carne Pier, which is signposted from Wexford Town and lies about 23km south of it, beyond the villages of Broadway and Kilrane. Parking at the pier and the adjacent Carne Beach Caravan and Camping Park is free, with overflow space in peak summer. There’s no useful public transport to the point, so you’ll need a car. The marine area is a protected SAC, so keep dogs close, leave the intertidal life alone and take litter home.
Nearby
- Carne Beach – the sheltered, east-facing strand at the trailhead, good for a calm family swim.
- Rosslare – the strand and the ferry port, about 15 minutes north.
- Johnstown Castle – Gothic Revival house, gardens and the Irish Agricultural Museum, roughly 25 minutes away.