Overview
There are two beaches at Portrane, and which one you want depends on why you came. The main one is the long, sandy two-kilometre strand backed by dunes, locally known as the Burrow – broad, gently shelving and the better choice for a swim or a walk with room to spare. The other is Tower Bay, a small, stony cove under the Martello tower at the south end; it’s prettier in a postcard way and has a coffee truck and a sea sauna, but it gets deep fast and is for confident swimmers only.
This is north County Dublin, a short hop off the M1, and it stays quieter than the big southside strands. There’s no driving onto the sand at either beach – you park at the pedestrian entrances – which is part of why it keeps its village feel.
Which beach, and swimming
For a family swim or a long paddle, go to the Burrow. It deepens gradually and the left side is mostly clear of stones, though the right can get stony and you’ll want to watch your footing near the rocks at low tide. Tower Bay is the opposite: stonier, and it drops away quickly into deep water, so leave it to strong swimmers. As anywhere on this coast, jellyfish turn up through the summer.
The bathing season runs roughly June to mid-September, and the locals’ tip is that September is the best of it – the sea has had all summer to warm. Note that there’s no lifeguard on the beach itself; the nearest lifeguard station is at the Brook Beach in the village, staffed in summer only. Check a tide table before any long shore walk – the Irish Sea covers a lot of sand here at high water.
The Martello tower and Father Ted
The tower above Tower Bay was built in 1804 as one of a chain raised against a feared Napoleonic invasion. It’s a fine silhouette and the turning point of the cliff walk, but it’s a private home now, so admire it from outside – there’s no going in.
The dunes near Tower Bay also stood in for the field in the famous funfair episode of Father Ted, which still pulls the odd fan out for a photo.
The cliff walk
The best walk here is the Donabate–Portrane cliff path. Pick it up at the Shoreline Hotel on the Donabate side and follow the cliffs round to the Martello tower, with Lambay Island and the open Irish Sea out to your right the whole way. It’s the standout thing to do in good weather, and if you start from the Donabate end there’s more parking.
Wildlife
The north end of the beach runs into a National Heritage Area on the Rogerstown Estuary, which fills with wintering waders and wildfowl – brent geese among them – on the exposed sandflats. In summer the shingle is working ground for nesting little terns, protected by the local Portrane Little Tern Project, which is the real reason to keep to the paths and off the dunes rather than any tidy-mindedness.
A disappearing coast
Portrane is one of the most visibly eroding stretches of the Dublin coast. Since the 1980s around 100 acres (40 ha) of beach and low cliff have been lost to the sea, and a storm in March 2018 took so much of the soft cliff that it destroyed a house. Concrete units known as ‘sea bees’ have been laid below the cliffs to slow it, but the erosion hasn’t stopped, and Fingal is still working to hold the line. It makes for a genuinely changing shoreline – and a good reason to heed any fencing or closure signs.
Practical Information
- Parking: Free at both ends – the Portrane Beach (Burrow) car park at the pedestrian entrance, and a larger car park at Tower Bay. Both fill fast on the rare hot weekend, so come early.
- Toilets: Public toilets at the Tower Bay car park.
- Admission: Free.
- Getting there: From the M1, take the Donabate/Portrane exit and follow the signs through Donabate into Portrane. Tower Bay is a 15-minute walk from the bus stop on the Go-Ahead 33B from Swords; Donabate train station is over an hour’s walk, so the bus or a car is the practical option.
- Accessibility: The car-park entrances are level, but the sand is soft and there are no hard paths or ramps onto the beach.
- Contact: +353 (0)1 840 0077.
Nearby
- Newbridge House and Gardens – a 1747 Georgian house and demesne a short drive inland.
- Ardgillan Castle – an 18th-century country house with gardens and sea views to the north.
- Swords – the Fingal county town, with its medieval castle and plenty of places to eat.
Time a swim for a September morning, and bring a flask for the sunrise – the beach faces east over the Irish Sea, and it’s the best free show in north Dublin.