Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

16°C

Swell today

Direction S, height 0.0 metres, period 9.9 seconds, significant wave height of 0.2 metres.

Haven position?

52° 38.055' N, 009° 29.770' W

Where is that position?

The position is at the head the Kilrush Customs Quay.

What are the initial fixes?

The following waypoints will set up a final approach:

(i) Shannon Entrance Initial Fix
52° 32.528' N, 009° 46.944' W
This is the position of the Shannon Entrance marker, the Ballybunnion North Cardinal Marker Lt Buoy, VQ Fl. 6m.

(ii) Kilrush Entrance Channel Initial Fix
52° 37.605' N, 009° 30.605' W
50 metres south of a red and white spherical buoy that marks the Kilrush marina channel entrance.

Please note: Initial fixes only set up their listed targets. Do not plan to sail directly between initial fixes as a routing sequence.

What is the story here?

Kilrush is on west coast of Ireland situated five miles inside the entrance and upon the north bank of the River Shannon. The market town stands at the head of a basin that is entered via an approach channel and a lock. Inside the basin there is a marina that caters for visiting yachts plus a number of small quays fronting the busy market town

The enclosed basin offers complete protection from all conditions. Safe access is available day or night from an entrance channel that is upriver and in the lee of two islands. The lock gates open upon request and can accept vessels at all stages of the tide, when tidal height is sufficient they free-flow. The outer gate is left open at night to enable late arrivals to berth within the lock until the morning.

Please note intended visitors should advise the marina of their arrival time so they may open the lock and make berthing arrangements. The entrance channel has a maintained depth of 2.5 metres.

Why visit here?

The town of Kilrush, in Irish Cill Rois meaning ‘Church of the Woods’, has existed since the 16th century.

It wasn't until the 18th century with the succession of John Ormsby Vandelour as the wealthiest landlord in the District that it underwent major development. The Vandelour family were of Dutch origins and were the most prominent family in West Clare. They designed the layout of the town and this is evident today with many of the street names originating from Vandelour family names.

In the early 19th century Kilrush was a thriving seaport and market town. However the famine years of 1845-1849 brought much hardship and the Vandelour name became associated with the worst landlord evictions. Sadly the population of south west Clare never attained the pre-famine numbers. At the end of the 19th century the arrival of the West Clare railway helped the town to recover and it has developed to become a busy market town.
Kilrush has been designated a ‘Heritage Town of Ireland’ in recognition of its landlord estate legacy plus rich maritime and market tradition. Of interest to visitors is the Kilrush Historic Town Trail which highlights the town’s heritage on useful information boards located at various points of the walk.

Those going further afield will find a land based tour to Loop Head, on the West Clare peninsula, where the Shannon Estuary meets the rugged Atlantic coastline, as interesting ashore as at sea. This contrasting coastline features beautiful sandy beaches and an unspoilt natural environment, including the ‘Bridges of Ross’ an important habitat for cliff nesting seabirds such as fulmars, guillemots and cormorants; and traditional villages of Carrigaholt, Kilbaha, and Doonbeg which has a championship links golf course designed by Greg Norman.

The area offers visitors a wide range of land based activities from sightseeing to walking but also it is a great base for water leisure. Central amongst these are Dolphin watching tours which visiting yachts will most likely have already encountered. This special area of conservation is home to about 140 Bottleneck Dolphins and calves, reputed to be the largest resident group in Europe. Kilrush location makes is also an ideal base from which to explore the scenic waters of the 55 mile long Shannon Estuary, and provide access to the 110 mile long River Shannon inland waterway system.

From a practical point of view this industrial town with excellent connections and a well-founded boat yard is the ideal base to carry out boat repairs and maintenance. It is also perhaps the best place to leave a boat or change a crew on the west coast of Ireland.

How to get in?

Seaward approaches to the initial fix should note Baurnahard Spit to the northwest of Scattery Island and Carrigillaun to the northeast. Down-river approaches to the initial fix, between Hog Island and mainland, should tend towards the port side in the narrow passage east of Hog Island to avoid the unmarked Wolf Rock, with 1 metre of cover residing 200 metres off the mainland. There also is a passage, carrying a least depth of 2 metres, between Scattery and Hog Island. This is complicated by a drying rocky bank of ‘Carrig Donaun’ near the middle of the fairway.

The initial fix will take a vessel to the north of Hogg Island and 50 metres south of a red and white spherical Lt buoy, L Fl 10s visible for one mile, that marks the entrance to the buoyed Kilrush marina channel.

Kilrush – entrance marker L Fl 10 s position: 52° 37.617' N, 009° 30.165' W

Enter the buoyed outer channel immediately north of the marker and follow the transits in-line 355°(T), by night leading lights Oc. 3s. Stay exactly in the channel as there is little tolerance for deviation. The channel is buoyed port and starboard and has a maintained depth of 2.5 metres.

At the top of the channel turn to starboard on 070°(T), by night in Green sector FI G 3s from the south side, to approach the lock. The white control building on the south side of the lock will be clearly visible.

The modern lock gate is 9 metres wide and accepts vessels at all states of tide. It is manned upon request by the friendly marina staff and free-flow when the tide height sufficient. Contact the marina office on VHF Channel 80, Phone: +353 65 9052072, Mobile +353 87 2318730, well in advance of arrival for lock opening and berthing instruction. After midnight the lower lock gate is left open so night arrivals can berth in the lock and enter the basin in the morning.

Within the lock a further 600 metre long channel leads to the pontoons. It has a maintained depth of 2.7 metres and a bearing of 070°(T). Similar to the outer channel it is buoyed port and starboard to. Berth as instructed by the friendly marina staff.

What are the tides here?

Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Galway +0020
Today's Galway tides — High waters: 07:34, 19:44, Low waters: 00:54, 13:04
Today's Dover tides — High waters: 01:04, 13:22, Low waters: 08:17, 20:33 (From Tide Times)
More accurately HW Galway +0012sp, +0027np, or alternatively -0612 on Dover

MHWS 5.0m MHWN 3.7m MLWN 1.7m MLWS 0.5m ML 2.6m

Shannon Entrance
The flood (in going) stream starts at +0100 Dover at 2.5kn
The ebb (out going) stream starts at -0515 Dover at 4kn
The flood starts approximately 5 hours before, and the ebb 1 hour after HW Galway. Once inside stream rates vary at different points of the estuary.

What facilities are available?

The Marina is situated on the north west side of Kilrush harbour and has 120 fully serviced pontoon berths and is accessible at all stages of the tide. It is about a five minute walk to the town centre that has all amenities to serve a population of 2,600; includes a wide variety of shops, supermarkets, bars, restaurants and accommodation. The Marina's facilities include showers, changing rooms, self-service laundry and a lounge area in the Marina Centre. Water, Gas, Electricity, Deisel, Petrol (in cans) are all available at the marina.

This is the ideal place to come for any boat work that needs to be attended to. A comprehensive suite of services are available in the marina’s boatyard via five nominated specialist contractors that include a chandlery, rigging repair, sail repair, marine engineering, electronic repair etc. The yard has a 45-ton travel lift crane with jib for mast lifting and stepping. Secured hard standing, open or covered, is available for those who wish to leave their boats.

Shannon International Airport is about an hour away and bus services operate to Dublin (about 5 hours) plus Limerick situated 70kms to the east.

What emergency contacts are there?

Valentia Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) VHF Ch 24 & MF 1752 kHz covers this coastal area. Cork (26), Mizen (04), Bantry Bay (23), Shannon (28) and Galway (04) provide relay stations. Coastguard Radio is always called on a working channel. Emergencies are worked on 16, 67 and working channel.

Alternatively, or if ashore, phone 999 or 121 (free) and ask for ‘Marine Rescue’. Gardai (police), Fire and Rescue are also available on this number. Valentia (MRSC) may be called on +353 669 476 109

Other useful contacts in this area:

Kilrush Marina: Phone: +353 65 9052072, Mobile +353 87 2318730
Lock +353 65 90 52155. Marina Ch 80. Kilrush Ch 16, 12
Email: kcm@shannon-dev.ie Web: www.kilrushcreekmarina.ie
Garda: +353 65 51017;
Doctor +353 65 51581 also 51470

Any security concerns?

The marina is secured with access via locked gates.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

Large scale Admiralty Charts 2254 and 2173 cover the south-western and northern approaches respectively. For River Shannon navigation the large scale Admiralty Chart 1819 ‘Approaches to the River Shannon’ scale of 1:50,000 has details of the Shannon Mouth and the Inner Mouth between Kilcredaun Head and Kilconly Point. Inwards from here the detailed charts 1547 ‘River Shannon - Kilcredaun Point to Ardmore Point’ scale of 1:20,000 including Kilrush Creek 1:10,000 is the key chart. For the rest of the Shannon : 1540 ‘River Shannon - Shannon Airport to Limerick’ scale of 1:12,500, 1548 ‘River Shannon - Ardmore Point to Rinealon Point’ scale of 1:20,000, 1549 ‘River Shannon - Rinealon Point to Shannon Airport including Foynes Harbour’ scale of 1:20,000 - Foynes Harbour 1:7,500.

Imray C55 ‘Dingle Bay to Galway Bay’ scale of 1:170,000, covers the west coast from Dingle Bay to Galway Bay and up the Shannon Estuary as far as Limerick City. It includes detail chartlets of all main harbours and anchorages. Ordinance Survey of Ireland, Discovery Series Map ref No. 63 / 64. Scale 1:50,000. Information, maps etc. on Shannon navigation is available from the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland.

With thanks to:

Gareth Thomas, Yacht Jalfrezi.

---

Please zoom out to see the 'initial fixes' for this location.

How can I get this offshore?

If a mobile signal is available you can access all of our information via a mobile phone's internet browser. We provide a 'Lite' site, Lite In Your Foot Steps using the shorter initials www.liyfs.com, that presents our data in a simplified, speed optimised format. Similarly, if an internet connection is limited or expensive, switching to the 'Lite' site enables faster and more efficient access.

Alternatively print this page's text, illustrations and photos, but without the internet menu, layout, backdrops and Google maps, or economise upon printer consumables and print this page with text only, to get a hardcopy of this location.

What other useful information is available?

The latest monthly Dover Tides and Cobh Tides courtesy of the National Environmental Research Council. Printable monthly tides for Dublin, Dunmore, Cobh, Galway, Belfast are available from the ISA.

The national weather forecast, Met Éireann and BBC shipping forecasts, plus a very simplified Munster tourist outlook. From an Atlantic perspective a 24 hour North Atlantic synoptic chart that you may ‘right click’ and save to your hard disk. Met Éireann’s Eastern Atlantic chart and the BBC’s surface area forecast plus visible satellite images for Ireland and Northeast Atlantic from Met Éireann. Wind observations, XC UK & Ireland, Windguru wind & wave reports, and Windfinder where you can determine a forecast time. Coastal radio stations (VHF Channel) Weather forecast at 0103 and thence every 3 hours updated every sixth. Cork 26, Bantry 23, Valentia 24. Radio broadcasts on RTE 1 (89.1FM) 0603, 1253, 1655 and 2355.

A free tidal range prediction application for windows, a simple tide monitor plus the rule of twelfths are available in inyourfootsteps.com shared ‘experience’.



Print this haven

Add a review or comment:

Please log in to leave a review of this haven.

Please note inyourfootsteps.com makes no guarantee of the validity of this information, we have not visited this haven and do not have first-hand experience to qualify the data. Although the contributors are vetted by peer review as practised authorities, they are in no way, whatsoever, responsible for the accuracy of their contributions. It is essential that you thoroughly check the accuracy and suitability for your vessel of any waypoints offered in any context plus the precision of your GPS. Any data provided on this page is entirely used at your own risk and you must read our legal page if you view data on this site.