Overview
Barrow Beach is the quiet southern end of Banna Strand, the same run of sand and dunes that stretches north to Ballyheigue. The supervised stretch of Banna is further up, which leaves this end for walkers. It sits north-west of Tralee in County Kerry, on the headland shared with the Tralee Golf Club links, and it is on the Wild Atlantic Way without any of the resort trappings. If you want a strand with open views and don’t mind bringing everything with you, this is the one.
The beach and dunes
The sand is backed by a system of dunes that is protected as a Special Area of Conservation, which is why little is built here. The shifting sand shelters rare coastal plants and gives ground-nesting shorebirds somewhere to breed, so stay on the established paths through the dunes rather than cutting your own line. At low tide the flats open out considerably toward Barrow Harbour and Fenit.
Reaching the beach
Kerry County Council’s rights-of-way list records an approach from the end of the L6501 at Barrow through the golf course. Use the signed route and keep clear of play. Check local access signs and park only where permitted. Allow for sandy, uneven ground on the way to the shore.
Tide and swimming
Like the rest of Tralee Bay, the tide here comes in over flat sand. Keep back from the mouth of Barrow Harbour and leave enough time and space to return as the tide comes in.
The lifeguard information for Banna Strand applies to its own supervised area, not to Barrow. For a swim, choose a supervised beach and check the EPA’s current bathing notices and the flags on arrival.
Barrow Harbour and the golf links
Beside the beach, Barrow Harbour is a tidal inlet that once did serious work as a port and a smuggling spot; the ruins of Fenit Castle still stand on Fenit Island across the water. On the headland itself is the Tralee Golf Club, an Arnold Palmer-designed links with cliff-top holes and long views over the bay. It is a private club, so keep clear of play, but the setting is part of why this corner of Kerry looks the way it does.
Getting there and facilities
The beach is reached by local roads from the Tralee side, and the approach is described under “Reaching the beach” above. Parking space is limited, so park only where permitted and check local signs.
Plan as if there are no facilities: bring what you need, and for toilets and food head into Fenit. Sea anglers and windsurfers use this part of the bay, but any swimming or water sports here are at your own risk.
Nearby
- Fenit: a working harbour village a short drive south-west, with a marina, a public beach and the start of the Tralee-Fenit Greenway.
- Banna Strand: the long strand runs north from here to Ballyheigue, with a supervised bathing area on the main stretch. This is where Roger Casement came ashore from a German submarine in the lead-up to the 1916 Easter Rising, and there is a memorial to him behind the dunes.
- Tralee Golf Club: the Arnold Palmer links on the headland, for anyone with a tee time and a head for cliff-edge holes.