Beach · County Mayo
Old Head Beach, Louisburgh
Can I swim here? Outside the bathing season
The bathing season runs from 1 June to 15 September. Outside it the water is not tested weekly and lifeguards are not on duty. The last sample, on 2 September 2026, was excellent. Live status on beaches.ie, which the EPA updates hourly in season.
Old Head Beach is a sheltered beach with a sandy substrate. The length of the beach at Old Head is backed by rocky cliffs. Old Head woodland is located approximately 200m to the rear of Old Head Beach. This SAC represents an extreme development of Atlantic oakwood and is one of the only Irish sites where the habitat occurs directly adjacent to the coast. In close proximity to Old Head Beach is Old Head SAC/pNHA (Site Code 000532). Croagh Patrick is a site of pilgrimage with the annual pilgrimage taking place on the last Sunday in July. Activities include swimming, surfing, water skiing, jet skiing, scuba-diving/snorkelling and fishing. The bathing water is approximately 0.3km2 in area. The medium and maximum water depth within the designated bathing water would be 0.5m and 5.0m respectively depending on tides.
Excellent (2025): The highest standard: results over four years were consistently very clean.
The record, year by year
| Year | EPA classification | Samples | Excellent | Good | Sufficient | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | — | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Excellent | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Excellent | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Excellent | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Excellent | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Facilities
| Lifeguards | Yes | |
|---|---|---|
| Toilets | Yes | |
| Parking | Yes | |
| Wheelchair access | Yes | |
| Beach wheelchair | No | |
| Public transport | No | |
| First aid | Yes | |
| Lifebuoy | Yes | |
| Information board | Yes | |
| Activity zones | No | |
| Litter bins | Yes | |
| Recycling | No |
Dogs and cars
- Dogs on a leadDogs only allowed before 12pm and after 6.30pm during the bathing season (1st June to 15th September) otherwise allowed at all times onto beach.
- No cars on the beach
- Car-free zone
Latest sample (2026-09-02): E. coli 50, intestinal enterococci 66 (cfu/100 ml).
The EPA's bathing water profile
Outdoors in County Mayo this week
Best day outdoors: Sun, 11 Oct — dry by day, breezy, up to 14°C
Status Yellow - Rain warning for Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo
From Thu, 8 Oct, 09:00 until Fri, 9 Oct, 04:00
Heavy spells of rain.
Be aware of potential impacts:
- Difficult travelling conditions
- Localised flooding possible
Issued by Met Éireann · met.ie/warnings
- Fri, 9 Oct12° / 8°Medium rain showers
- Sat, 10 Oct12° / 7°Sun with light cloud
- Sun, 11 Oct14° / 13°Sun with light cloud
Make a day of it
The nearest trails, beaches, woods and heritage within 25 km.