County Galway

Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna

Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Galway, 4.2 km south-west of Kilkieran. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it excellent for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records an information board.

Excellent

water quality, 2025

Blue Flag

lifeguard

4.2 km

from Kilkieran

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 Galway
Managed by: Galway County Council
Nearest town: Kilkieran, 4.2 km south-west of it, in a straight line
From that town: 5.6 km by road, about 7 min drivingor 6.5 km on foot, about 81 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: No
Toilets: No
Parking: No
Access: No
Dogs: Not allowed
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 53.3010° N, 9.7825° W
Record changed: 2026-03-05

Kilkieran Bay·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Kilkieran Bay·Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Trá Chaladh Fínis is a scenic, sandy and rural beach overlooking Finish Island. Trá Chaladh Fínis supports a variety of vegetation including a variety of marine plant species and flower species. It also supports a variety of birds. Animals which may be spotted off the coastline include otters and seals. Activities include swimming, bathing and surfing. The beach is a long beach approximately 400 metres in length.

Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna 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

Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna, 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 Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna

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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

Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna is in Kilkieran, 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 Kilkieran, 4.2 km south-west of the beach. The register records no 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

No scheduled stop was found within 2.5 km of Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna. On-demand services may not be included.

Getting to Kilkieran covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Galway

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna?

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

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 Galway County Council before swimming.

Does Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna 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 Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna?

No. The register records no lifeguard here, so nobody is watching the water.

How do you get to Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna without a car?

No stop in the national timetable is within two and a half kilometres of Trá Chaladh Fínis, Carna. 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