The Golden Mile
Morriscastle is the middle stretch of the Golden Mile, a run of sand that goes on for about 22km from Cahore Point down to Curracloe with barely a break – and it’s often claimed, on reasonable grounds, to be the longest beach in Ireland. The stretch at Morriscastle alone runs over 2km, wide and soft, backed by dunes high enough to knock the prevailing westerly flat. That shelter is the whole appeal: on a breezy Wexford afternoon the sand behind the dune line stays warm while the water in front of it whips up.
It carries a Blue Flag, a Green Coast award and Identified Bathing Water status – three separate ways of saying the water is clean and the beach is looked after. Lifeguards patrol from early June to the end of August, typically 9am to 5pm. Outside those months you swim at your own risk, but the sand stays clean and the space stays empty.
Getting onto the sand, and one caveat
Access is from the car park down a wooden sleeper walkway. The honest warning: the walkway slopes slightly towards the sea and wind-blown sand piles onto it constantly, so despite the two disabled parking spaces at the top, it can be hard going for anyone using a wheelchair or unsteady on their feet. Parking otherwise is free, both on the road and in the car park on Morriscastle Road, but it fills fast on July and August weekends – get there before midday.
For food, Lawlers of Morriscastle sits on the north side of Morriscastle Road just before the car park, doing coffee, fish and chips, ice cream and pizza. Toilets (male, female and disabled) are open all year, and there’s an outdoor cold shower for rinsing off sand and salt.
Shore fishing
Morriscastle is one of the better-known shore-angling beaches in the southeast. The mix of clean sand and tidal channels brings in a wide spread of species – bass, tope, smoothhound, bullhuss, dogfish, spurdog, ray, flounder and dab – and clubs run competitions here through the year. The bigger predators move in on the night tides, so serious anglers tend to fish after dark. Check the tide tables before you set up; timing matters more than gear on this beach.
Walking and wildlife
Grey seals turn up regularly just off the shore, particularly in calmer weather – scan the waterline and you’ll often spot a head or two. The dunes to the south, the Kilmuckridge/Tinnaberna Sandhills, are a protected conservation site, held together by marram grass that shelters nesting birds and specialised insects.
The best walk here heads inland rather than along the sand: a route from the beach to Newtown passes the Ballteigue Bog and the Fodagh, both busy with wetland birdlife. The Wexford Coastal Pathway also runs through Morriscastle, linking the neighbouring beaches, and the Cahore Cliff Walk is a short drive north. The Norman castle ruin the place is named for still stands, visible from the roadway as part of the Kilmuckridge/Tinnaberna heritage site.
Dogs are welcome outside the main bathing season; restrictions typically run from Easter to the end of summer, though the exact dates shift year to year, so check the noticeboard or the Wexford County Council website before bringing one along.
Getting there
Morriscastle is roughly a 30-minute drive from Wexford Town and about 25 minutes from Courtown, with Enniscorthy a similar run inland. The most direct approach follows the R742, then turns onto Morriscastle Road where the car park sits on the left. Public transport is thin on the ground – the nearest bus stop is in Kilmuckridge – so a car is really the only reliable way in.
If you’re staying over, Morriscastle Strand Holiday Park is a 4-star caravan and camping site right beside the beach, with mobile homes, glamping pods and pitches for tents and touring caravans. And if you want to walk the length of the Golden Mile, carry on north along the sand towards Old Bawn and Cahore – on a falling tide you can cover a fair distance before the dunes push you back inland.