County MayoBlue Flag

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Mayo, 3 km north-east of Louisburgh. 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

Yes

Blue Flag

Yes

lifeguard

3 km

from Louisburgh

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, closed 10 days last season
Awards: Blue Flag · the register does not say which year's award
County: County Mayo
Managed by: Mayo County Council
Nearest town: Louisburgh, 3 km north-east of it, in a straight line
From that town: 3.5 km by road, about 6 min drivingor 3.6 km on foot, about 46 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: Recorded as accessible, with no detail given
Dogs: Dogs only allowed before 12pm and after 6.30pm during the bathing season (1st June to 15th September) otherwise allowed at all times onto beach.
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 53.7772° N, 9.7686° W
Record changed: 2026-03-31

Louisburgh - Old Head Beach, Quay & slipway·Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Louisburgh - Old Head Beach, Quay & slipway·Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Slipway and beach at Oldhead Quay·John Welford, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Slipway and beach at Oldhead Quay·John Welford, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

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.

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Old Head Beach, Louisburgh 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

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh, and the other places to swim in County Mayo. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Old Head Beach, Louisburgh

Going toOld Head Beach, LouisburghDestination: the mapped location

1 Where are you starting?

Starting town or village

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

TransportSort journeys by

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

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh is in Louisburgh, County Mayo. 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 Louisburgh, 3 km north-east 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 Mapsdirections Apple Mapsdirections Wazedriving satnav

Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Kilsallagh (557171), 2.0 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Kilsallagh 2.0 km
bus 450
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Louisburgh covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Mayo

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Old Head Beach, Louisburgh?

The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Old Head Beach, Louisburgh is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Old Head Beach, Louisburgh 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 Old Head Beach, Louisburgh?

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 Mayo County Council before swimming.

Does Old Head Beach, Louisburgh have a Blue Flag?

The register records one. It does not record which year's award, and the flag is awarded each season, so it is worth checking the flag is flying when you arrive.

Is there a lifeguard at Old Head Beach, Louisburgh?

The register records one, without giving hours. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.

How do you get to Old Head Beach, Louisburgh without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Kilsallagh, 2.0 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 450 call there, run by Bus Éireann. The planner on this page works out the walk from that stop over real footways, and the whole journey from wherever you are starting, for the day and time you pick. Where no footway joins the stop to the beach it says so rather than making a number up.

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 2026-03-31. 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 Mayo