The banded grey rock at the tip of Forlorn Point is ancient, laid down in a shallow sea long before there was an Ireland to be part of, then welded onto the edge of the continent when old landmasses collided. Along the shore you can see vertical dykes of dark volcanic rock cutting through it, and a small exposure of schist near the Memorial Garden. The harbour and shore are exposed in rough weather, so take care near the water.
Forlorn Point – ‘The Forlorn’ to locals – is the low headland that shelters the fishing village of Kilmore Quay, at the south-west corner of County Wexford. Ordnance Survey Ireland records it as Crossfarnoge or Forlorn Point (Irish: Rinn Chrois Fhearnóg, ‘cross of alders’); the English name probably comes from the Yola word furloan, ‘foreland’. Below the white-washed cottages a working marina moors yachts, sea-angling charters and the boats out to the Saltee Islands, and from the seawall you look out towards the islands and their seabird colonies.
Saltee boat trips leave from the harbour in summer, weather permitting rather than to a fixed daily timetable, so check with the operators before you set out.
For a marked walk, use the Kilmore Quay Walking Trail from the harbour car park. It passes the memorial garden and continues towards Ballyteige Burrow. Follow the waymarkers and leave the dunes, farm boundaries and exposed rock shelves undisturbed.
Lifeboats and lookouts
The RNLI put its first lifeboat on the point in 1847. That station lasted barely a decade, falling into disuse by 1857; a permanent brick station followed later, and a lifeboat has been moored in the harbour continuously since 2004. High on the headland stands Lookout Post 15, one of the chain of concrete posts built along the coast by the Coast Watching Service during the Second World War – the Emergency, as it was known here. A nearby EIRE stone marker was laid to warn off wartime aircraft.
The grave the storm uncovered
In October 2017 the tail of Storm Ophelia tore into the promenade and exposed a shallow pit with a largely complete human skeleton in it. Archaeologists and the State Pathologist confirmed the remains were ancient, and they were sent to the National Museum of Ireland for radiocarbon dating. It is a reminder of how little is recorded about the people who lived along this exposed coast.
A graveyard of ships
The reefs off Forlorn Point and the Saltees have wrecked boats for centuries, and locals call the waters ‘the graveyard of a thousand ships’. Many wrecks are documented nearby, among them the 19th-century Lismore and Malgenio. Anything over 100 years old is protected under the National Monuments Act, and divers who recover artefacts must report them to the National Museum. Under the Wexford County Development Plan the headland itself is a protected County Geological Site.
Getting there and around
The R734 runs down to Kilmore Quay from Rosslare, about 19 km. Wexford Bus serves Kilmore Quay from Wexford town, but check the current timetable for days and times before you travel. The harbour car park is the starting point for the waymarked trail. There is no visitor centre, and the lifeboat station can be seen from the quay.
Take care near the water, where rock is slick when wet, and stay on the waymarked trail. Give the walk out along the seawall half an hour. From the trail you can continue towards Ballyteige Bay and the dunes of Ballyteige Burrow Nature Reserve, leaving the dunes themselves undisturbed.