The strand
Cummeen Strand is the wide tidal sandflat in Sligo Bay on the Strandhill side, reached on the road from Sligo town. At low tide it is a broad plain of sand and mud, and at high tide it is part of the bay. Knocknarea, with Queen Maeve’s cairn on its summit, rises straight behind it, and Benbulben’s flat top sits across the water to the north. The bay is protected as both a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area for its dunes, mudflats and birds.
If you only plan one thing here, plan the walk to Coney Island. The birds, the pillars and the light you can enjoy at any tide, but the crossing depends entirely on the water.
The pillars and the walk to Coney Island
Fourteen stout cut-stone pillars march across the sand toward Coney Island, marking the line of a crossing about a mile and a half (2.4 km) long. This part is called Dorrin’s Strand, after William Dorrin, owner of Coney Island, who drowned here in March 1823 when the tide rushed in on his way back to the island. The pillars went up over the following decades and were set in line with the lighthouse on Black Rock, so that on dark nights walkers could steer by its flashing light.
The pillars are markers, not a guarantee of safety. Incoming water can cut off the crossing, and the sand beyond the line can be soft. Follow the guidance below before you set foot on the strand, and if you cannot confirm a safe window for both the outward and return legs, stay on the mainland. When the tide is in, boats run to Coney from Rosses Point instead.
Check the outward and return crossing
Follow the Coney Island safe-crossing guidance. Sligo Boat Charters lists the RNLI’s Text the Tide service. Text CONEY to 51155 from a Republic of Ireland mobile or 81400 from a Northern Ireland or UK mobile. The advised times depend on suitable weather. Allow extra time and keep off the strand if you cannot confirm both legs or if water covers the route.
For a trip by boat, enquire with the operator about availability and landing arrangements from Rosses Point. If you are cut off by the tide, call 112 or 999 and ask for the Coast Guard.
History and Yeats
Cummeen was once the seat of the Ormsby family, and nearby Grange belonged to the Nicholsons. The old Ballisodare–Sligo road ran along this shore until a new road was built in 1836. In 1891 Charles Stewart Parnell crossed via Coney Island on his way to Strandhill while campaigning in a by-election, where the self-styled ‘king’ of Coney, Bryan Ward, met him and promised the island’s 29 votes.
W.B. Yeats set the strand into ‘Red Hanrahan’s Song about Ireland’:
The old brown thorn-trees break in two high over Cummeen Strand, Under a bitter black wind that blows from the left hand.
Wildlife and oysters
The flats matter most in winter, when large flocks of light-bellied Brent geese arrive from as far as the Canadian Arctic. Harbour seals haul out on the sandbanks, and the SAC’s protected species also include river and sea lamprey and the tiny narrow-mouthed whorl snail (Vertigo angustior). The shallows are worked for shellfish, continuing the trade that gave the county its name, Sligeach, ‘shelly place’.
Watch from the mainland and keep clear of feeding birds and working shellfish areas. The protected bay is a feeding ground for wintering birds. Bring binoculars in winter and move slowly, because the geese and roosting waders spook easily.
Getting there and what to know
- By car: the strand lies on the road between Sligo and Strandhill. Keep the strand entrance and roadside clear, and follow local parking signs.
- Access: the sand is uneven with no paved paths, so it is not suitable for prams or wheelchairs.
- Safety: never cross alone, in fog, or on a rising tide, and do not rely on the pillars alone to judge the tide.
Check tide and weather guidance before you leave Sligo, because it decides what you can safely do here.