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County Westmeath

The Cut, Lough Lene

The Cut, Lough Lene is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Westmeath, 1.7 km north-east of Collinstown. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it excellent for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records toilets, parking, bins, recycling and an information board.

Excellent
water quality, 2025
No
Blue Flag
No
lifeguard
1.7 km
from Collinstown
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
None
County
County Westmeath
Managed by
Westmeath County Council
Nearest town
Collinstown, 1.7 km north-east of it, in a straight line
From that town
2 km by road, about 3 min drivingor 2.1 km on foot, about 26 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard
No
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
Access to lake shoreline
Dogs
Not allowed
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
Protected area
Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position
53.6594° N, 7.1958° W
Record changed
2026-03-23
The shoreline of Lough Lene
The shoreline of Lough Lene·N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The shoreline of Lough Lene·N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The shoreline of Lough Lene
The shoreline of Lough Lene·N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The shoreline of Lough Lene·N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

The Cut is an inland bathing area located on the Shores of Lough Lene. Lough Lene supports a diverse aquatic flora; such as pond weed and stoneworts. The bathing area is a popular bathing area. Jet ski bye laws in place prohibit use of jet skis on the lake. The bathing area extends over an area of approximately 70 meters by 170 meters wide.

The Cut, Lough Lene is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. The Cut, Lough Lene 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

The Cut, Lough Lene, and the other places to swim in County Westmeath. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to The Cut, Lough Lene

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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

The Cut, Lough Lene is in Collinstown, County Westmeath. 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 Collinstown, 1.7 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.
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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Collinstown (105171), 1.7 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

  • Collinstown 1.7 km
    buses 111A and 818
    Scheduled departures from this stop

Getting to Collinstown covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Westmeath

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at The Cut, Lough Lene?
The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. The Cut, Lough Lene is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. The Cut, Lough Lene 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 The Cut, Lough Lene?
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 Westmeath County Council before swimming.
Does The Cut, Lough Lene 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 The Cut, Lough Lene?
No. The register records no lifeguard here, so nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to The Cut, Lough Lene without a car?
The nearest stop in the national timetable is Collinstown, 1.7 km from the beach in a straight line, and buses 111A and 818 call there, run by Bus Éireann and TFI Local Link Longford Westmeath Roscommon. 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 2026-03-23. 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 Westmeath