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Owenahincha, Little Island Strand

Owenahincha, Little Island Strand is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Cork, 2.5 km south-west of Rathbarry. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it excellent for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records a lifeguard, toilets, parking, a lifebuoy, first aid and an information board.

Excellent
water quality, 2025
Yes
Blue Flag
Yes
lifeguard
2.5 km
from Rathbarry
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
Not prone to it
Awards
Blue Flag · the register does not say which year's award
County
County Cork
Managed by
Cork County Council
Nearest town
Rathbarry, 2.5 km south-west of it, in a straight line
From that town
2.7 km by road, about 4 min drivingor 2.7 km on foot, about 34 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard
Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
No
Dogs
Dogs are not allowed on this beach between 10.30 a.m. & 7.00 p.m. during the bathing season which runs from 1st June to 15th September.
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
First aid
With Lifeguards
Position
51.5634° N, 8.9926° W
Record changed
2026-02-25
Discarded fishing gear, Owenahincha Beach
Discarded fishing gear, Owenahincha Beach·Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Discarded fishing gear, Owenahincha Beach·Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Rocks on Owenahincha Beach, near Rosscarbery, West Cork, Ireland
Rocks on Owenahincha Beach, near Rosscarbery, West Cork, Ireland·Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Rocks on Owenahincha Beach, near Rosscarbery, West Cork, Ireland·Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Owenahincha is a relatively gently sloping, sandy beach and has sand dunes to the rear which extend between 70m & 100m. The beach can be subject to very strong wave action and rip tides/strong currents. There is a short pleasant cliff walk between the Warren Strand and Owenahincha. Approx. 1km to the east of the beach there is a Special Area of Conservation Kilkerran Lake & Castlefreke Dunes (SAC 001061). The beach is used by limited numbers of surfers, windsurfers, canoeists, and anglers.

Owenahincha, Little Island Strand is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Owenahincha, Little Island Strand 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

Owenahincha, Little Island Strand, and the other places to swim in County Cork. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Owenahincha, Little Island Strand

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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

Owenahincha, Little Island Strand is in Rathbarry, County Cork. 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 Rathbarry, 2.5 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.
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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Burgatia (253801), 1.4 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

  • Burgatia 1.4 km
    bus 237
    Scheduled departures from this stop

Getting to Rathbarry covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Cork

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Owenahincha, Little Island Strand?
The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Owenahincha, Little Island Strand is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Owenahincha, Little Island Strand 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 Owenahincha, Little Island Strand?
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 the register says nothing about short term pollution here. Check with Cork County Council before swimming.
Does Owenahincha, Little Island Strand 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 Owenahincha, Little Island Strand?
The register records one, without giving hours. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to Owenahincha, Little Island Strand without a car?
The nearest stop in the national timetable is Burgatia, 1.4 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 237 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 2026-02-25. 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 Cork