Skip to content
County Galway

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Galway, 3.5 km south-west of Roundstone. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it excellent for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records a lifeguard, toilets, parking, bins, a lifebuoy, first aid and an information board.

Excellent
water quality, 2025
No
Blue Flag
Yes
lifeguard
3.5 km
from Roundstone
Water quality
Excellent, 2025
Seasons before
2024 Excellent, 2023 Excellent, 2022 Excellent
Water testing
Tested by the EPA sampled through the season and given a water quality grade
Season restriction
None in place
Pollution after rain
Prone to short term pollution
Awards
None
County
County Galway
Managed by
Galway County Council
Nearest town
Roundstone, 3.5 km south-west of it, in a straight line
From that town
4.3 km by road, about 6 min drivingor 4.8 km on foot, about 60 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard
Yes: 12-6 weekends July Aug
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
No
Dogs
Allowed on a lead
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
First aid
lifeguard huts during lifeguard season
Protected area
Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position
53.3763° N, 9.9597° W
Record changed
2026-03-05
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Photo taken at Dog´s Bay CO. Mayo·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón bathing water is on the shores of Gurteen Bay. It is a striking sandy beach and is best remembered as a setting for the famous Irish film Into the West. There is a unique "machair" habitat present which is a relatively flat and low lying sand plain. This habitat supports rare plant species. Goirtín beach supports a variety of animals, birds, shellfish and plants.

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Goirtín, Cloch na Rón has achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for the four consecutive years 2022 to 2025. Annual water quality ratings are generally calculated using monitoring results over a four-year period and are assessed against stringent bacterial limits to protect bather health.

The EPA’s own beach profile

Where it is

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón, and the other places to swim in County Galway. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Goirtín, Cloch na Rón

Your journey, your way

Let’s get you to Goirtín, Cloch na Rón.

Choose where you are starting. We’ll work out the rest.

Going toGoirtín, Cloch na RónDestination: the mapped location
1 Where are you starting?

Type at least two letters, then choose a suggestion.

Nearby starting points
2 How would you like to travel?
3 When are you going?

All times are local to Ireland. Scheduled services, without live delay updates.

Journey preferences Transport type and sorting

Choose a starting point to plan your journey.

About these directions

Public transport times come from National Transport Authority. Timetables cover 2026-09-18 to 2027-09-19. These are scheduled services; check with the operator for cancellations and changes before travelling.

Walking and driving times are estimates. A town search starts at its centre; choose your location or a point on the map for a more precise starting point. Eircode search is not available.

How journey planning works
Destination, access and nearby stops

Goirtín, Cloch na Rón is in Roundstone, County Galway. Routes here end at the point the map records for this place. The entrance has not been verified, so the last few metres are for you to judge.

The nearest settlement is Roundstone, 3.5 km south-west of the beach. The register records parking here. Getting to the town is not getting to the beach, so the journey below is worked out to the beach itself and the last stretch on foot is measured rather than left out.
Get directions
Or open it inGoogle MapsdirectionsApple MapsdirectionsWazedriving satnav
Stops near it

No scheduled stop was found within 2.5 km of Goirtín, Cloch na Rón. On-demand services may not be included.

Getting to Roundstone covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Galway

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Goirtín, Cloch na Rón?
The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Goirtín, Cloch na Rón is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Goirtín, Cloch na Rón has achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for the four consecutive years 2022 to 2025. Annual water quality ratings are generally calculated using monitoring results over a four-year period and are assessed against stringent bacterial limits to protect bather health. A classification is a record of seasons that have finished; it is not a reading of the water today.
Is swimming restricted at Goirtín, Cloch na Rón?
The register records no season-long restriction. That is about the season, not about today: a short notice after heavy rain would not appear here, and this water is recorded as prone to short term pollution. Check with Galway County Council before swimming.
Does Goirtín, Cloch na Rón have a Blue Flag?
No. A beach without one can still have excellent water: the Blue Flag also asks for facilities, lifeguards and information boards, which a quiet strand may not have.
Is there a lifeguard at Goirtín, Cloch na Rón?
The register records one, 12-6 weekends July Aug. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to Goirtín, Cloch na Rón without a car?
No stop in the national timetable is within two and a half kilometres of Goirtín, Cloch na Rón. That is what the published timetable holds rather than a statement that nothing goes near: services that run on demand, and routes that file no schedule, are not in the feed at all.
Where does this come from?
The Environmental Protection Agency's list of places people swim, which it calls the bathing water register, read on 2026-09-20, where this record was last changed on 2026-03-05. Water quality, awards, lifeguards and facilities are the EPA's own fields, and a field it leaves blank is shown as not recorded rather than as a no. The distance to the nearest town is this site's own measurement, in a straight line.

Water quality, awards, lifeguards, toilets, parking and access are the Environmental Protection Agency’s own fields, from its bathing water register, read 2026-09-20. The classification covers four years of sampling and is not a reading for today: after heavy rain the water can be worse than the classification suggests, and the EPA and the local authority post notices when it is. Positions are the EPA’s grid references, projected to latitude and longitude. Journeys are the National Transport Authority’s published timetable.

Beaches and bathing waters in Ireland·Beaches in County Galway