Kilmore Quay is situated on the southeast corner of Ireland, thirteen miles east of Hook Head, eight miles west of Carnsore Point and immediately north of the Saltee Islands. It is a small fishing port that offers a well-run marina with excellent onshore facilities.

Kilmore Quay provides complete protection. In strong to extreme south-easterly conditions there can be some motion in the harbour, mostly in wintertime, but other than that it is perfectly settled. Access requires attentive navigation owing to the surrounding area’s numerous outlying rocks and strong currents. Final harbour access is reasonably good in most conditions and the quay is clearly marked with navigational buoys and illuminated transits that make for safe and easy access day or night, at any stage of the tide. In severe conditions, the entrance would be highly challenging so it should not be taken for granted that this is a safe haven to run to in all conditions.

The entrance can be exposed to strong south-easterly winds, particularly near high water, when a first-time visitor should not attempt entry.

Keyfacts for Kilmore Quay

Position and approaches

Haven position

52° 10.230' N, 006° 35.190' W

This is the position of the west breakwater’s southernmost pier head. It is immediately south of the harbour entrance where the Kilmore Quay Light QRG 7m, 5M, stands.

What is the initial fix?

This waypoint is Kilmore Quay’s safe water marker, a red and white buoy with a long white flash (Iso 10s). The buoy is positioned between Kilmore Quay and Little Saltee Island.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Kilmore Quay is a small attractive fishing village and harbour situated close east of Crossfarnoge, locally known as Forlorn Point. The harbour lies four miles northward of the Saltee Islands that comprising two islands Great Saltee and Little Saltee and numerous rocks and shoals. Though primarily a fishing village, leisure facilities such as sailing, sea angling charters and pleasure trips to the Saltee Islands also contribute significantly to its economy.




The harbour has 55 berth marina in the northeast corner of which 15 are set aside for visitors. The marina can support drafts of up to 2.4 metres but some recent silting in the entrance has reduced maximum approach depths to 0.9 metres on the bottom of a big low Spring tide. Despite the low number of visitor berths the harbour somehow manages to accommodate all its visitors. The only exception to this is just before or after the biannual 'Cork Week' event when the level of transit leisure traffic can overwhelm the harbour’s capabilities. Although no pre-bookings are accepted it is advisable to contact the Harbour Master a couple of days before arriving to take advice and make him aware of your intentions. +353 53 9129955, harbourmaster@wexfordcoco.ie.

How to get in?

Use southeastern Ireland’s coastal overview for Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour for seaward approaches. The two low-lying Saltee Islands, Great Saltee and Little Saltee, four miles to the south of Kilmore Quay provide an excellent seamark for its location. On closer approaches, the wind farms, located to the northwest and east of Kilmore Quay, will be the first marks to present themselves. Then Ballyteige Castle, nearly a mile north-northeast of the extremity of Crossfarnoge Point, will be seen and a chapel with a belfry, about 0.4 miles within the same point.




Vessels approaching from the west will find no obstructions on a direct course across Ballyteige Bay from a point one mile south of Hook Head. Standing odd Hook Head clears Tower Race which forms during the Waterford Harbour ebb is stronger than the west going stream. A midway course between the mainland and the islands to Kilmore Quay’s red and white safe water marker buoy, where the initial fix is set, presents no dangers. Kilmore Quay immediately east of Crossfarnoge (or Forlorn) Point is 13 miles east by northeast of Hook Head.

Kilmore Quay Safe Water Marker - White long flash – position: 52° 09.200’N, 006° 35.300’W

For the final 1½ miles leading up to the safe water marker, steer to track down near due east onto the buoy. There is limited room to deviate in this last stretch as to the south of the track are the 'Murroch’s' and 'Jackeen Rocks' situated southwest of the marker and northwest of 'Little Saltee'. Likewise, any deviation to the north will take a vessel too close to the 'Forlorn Rock', with 1.2 metres of water, situated west-southwest and nearly half a mile offshore of Crossfarnoge Point.




Vessels approaching from the east may make use of a pass through the middle of St. Patrick’s Bridge. The St. Patrick's Bridge passage offers the shortest and simplest route to the inshore area between the Kilmore Quay and the Saltee Islands. It also provides the quickest route from Carnsore Point to Hook Head.




St. Patrick’s Bridge is situated within the 1¾ mile wide gap between the shore and Little, the north most, Saltee Island. It is a ridge of rock and shingle that curves back from the northernmost point of Little Saltee to the mainland to the east of Kilmore Quay. The attached ends dry off a considerable distance from each side and at about midway between the island and the shore, if a little closer to Little Saltee, there is a passage over the ridge. The passage has 2.4 metres at LWS and is well marked from April to September by two seasonal port and starboard light buoys with the direction of buoyage being from west to east.

Starboard Marker – Green Buoy Fl. G6s 2M position: 52°09.300’N, 006° 34.700’W

Port Marker – Red Buoy Fl. R6s 2M position: 52°09.135’N, 006° 34.700’W




On approach, the 35 meters high Little Saltee Island, on the southern side, plus the constant use by leisure and fishing boats should make the bridge and passage plain to see. A local boatman’s set of waypoints will align the bridge for crossing at the optimal point.

St. Patrick's Bridge East – alignment waypoint: 52° 09.300’N, 006° 33.000’W

St. Patrick's Bridge – waypoint: 52° 09.300’N, 006° 34.700’W

St. Patrick's Bridge West – alignment waypoint: 52° 09.300’N, 006° 35.650’W

The bridge crossing aligns a vessel to track down on Kilmore Quay’s safe water marker where the initial fix is located. If the tide is however foul over the bridge it is best to approach from the south via Saltee Sound.




Vessels approaching from the far south have several rocks to circumvent to the south of the Saltees but there are clear passages between many of them. A safe passage around the 'Coningbeg Rock', 'Coningmore Rocks' and the 'Brandies' plus the other shoals and shallows where breakers may be experienced - see the additional notes available in Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour coastal description.

It is advisable to stand well off the islands on closer approaches as there are several dangerous outlying rocks. Once south of the islands the options are to pass around either side of Little or Great Saltee, to take the western or eastern approaches as described above, or pass through Saltee Sound that lies between the two islands.




Saltee Sound has depths in the fairway of 8 to 10 metres and is about ⅔ of a mile wide. It provides a particularly useful alternative approach for an eastern approaching vessel too late to catch the tide on St Patrick's Bridge. The tide over St Patrick's Bridge turns up to 2 hours earlier than in Saltee Sound at HW Dover +0400. The stream in Saltee Sound then turns southeastward at HW Dover +0600 attaining a rate of 3.5 kn. So if a vessel has missed the tide on St Patrick's Bridge the Sound may be availed of.

Saltee Sound requires some attentive eyeball navigation as the fairway is reduced to a width of about a ⅓ mile by many unmarked outlying rocks and shoals around the Islands and irregular currents that occur within its confines. It is truly the reserve of a local boatman in poor visibility or boisterous conditions but in good conditions provides a visitor with a safe passage. Having the benefit of a reliable engine, the additional notes in the Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour coastal description reviewed alongside a good chart (Admiralty Chart 2740) or reliable plotter, a stranger may freely approach Kilmore Quay through Saltee Sound.

The key area to observe is the reduced to a width of 600 metres between the foul ground extending west from Little Saltee and the 'Sebber Bridge' that runs off from the north end of Great Saltee. The dangers fringing the sound are 'Goose', 'Galgee' and the 'Sebbar Rocks'. The Goose is a half-tide rock that dries to 2.6 metres, located 200 metres from the southwest point of Little Saltee. Stay well clear as there is a dangerous off lying portion of the rock that never uncovers and lies about 15 metres to the southwest of Goose Rock.




Galgee Rock, nearly dry, lies about 150 metres southwest from the from Little Saltee's southern extremity. Another rock, with about a metre of cover, locally known as 'Whistler Rock', lies about 150 metres off the southeast corner of Little Saltee, so it is advisable to stand well off the southern end of Little Saltee.

Sebbar Bridge is a shallow ridge of boulders and coarse gravel that extends ¾ of a mile northward from the northeast point of Great Saltee. It has low water depths of less than 0.6 metres 600 metres from the shore where it then begins to descend to 4 metres.

Making good a course of 330° (R150°) through Saltee Sound, keep about midway between the islands if a little closer to Little Saltee. Once through Saltee Sound round 'Goose Rock' and then plot a path along the west side of Little Saltee Island, following the 4-metre contour parallel to the island to the Kilmore Quay safe water marker. This should take a vessel outside 'Privateer Rock' and inside 'Murroch's Rock'. 'Privateer Rock' is a flat rock with about 3 metres of cover. This should only present a problem for deep keeled yachts if there is a south-westerly groundswell of a metre that is often the case here. Locally known 'Privateer Rock', that remains unnamed on charts, is clearly charted half a mile west of the centre of Little Saltee Island. 'Murroch's Rock', awash at low water, that lies just under ¾ of a mile to the northwest of the Little Saltee Island is the primary concern.




From the Initial Fix, located at Kilmore Quay’s safe water marker, turn northward for the one mile run into the harbour.




The leading marks will be seen immediately east of the harbour area and consist of two white pylons with red stripes 007.8° in-line. At night, both Oc. White 4s and will be seen slightly east of the green sector of the breakwater light.

Rear Kilmore alignment beacon - position: 52° 10.440’N, 006° 35.055’W

The beacons mark a dredged channel, with 1.9 metres LAT, that leads to the east of the head of the harbour’s western breakwater. At night the entrance can also be approached in the green sector 354°- 003° of Kilmore Quay Light, QRG 7m, 5M, standing at the southern end of the breakwater.




The helm should take care not to get pushed off the transits by cross tides that can be strong on the approach. There are shoals on both sides of the path and, closer in, rocks called the 'Lings' that remain covered at all times but have little depth of water over them.




The entrance lies in the southeast corner of the harbour facing east. It is about 25 metres wide but, as its southern side is classified as a landing berth, it can often be narrowed by a large fishing vessel berthed alongside. On the final approach to the entrance keep 25 metres off the pierhead of the western breakwater then turn hard to port for the entrance. Then pass within the inner face of the western breakwater, port side, and the southern end of the east quay, starboard side. Do not overshoot the entrance as the entire area quickly shoals to the east of the harbour.




A warning has been issued of silting near the entrance. This is located in the area from the Pierhead light to the end of the West Pier and approximately 50 metres eastwards of Kilmore Quay Harbour. The reduction in depth, reported in 2017, provides a limiting depth of 0.9 metres when entering the harbour at Low Water Springs.




Inside the inner harbour there will be many large fishing boats along with smaller lobster and angling craft. The quays have plenty of depth alongside; the 250 meters long west quay carries 3 metres and the 110 metres long east quay has a depth of 5 metres.

The finger pontoon marina is situated in the northeast corner of the harbour and supports up to 2.4 metres. Berth as directed by the harbour master.

Why visit here?

Kilmore Quay derives its name from its Irish title ‘Cé na Cille Móire’ meaning "Quay of the big church". It is a small quiet fishing village renowned for it's lobster and deep-sea fishing, picturesque thatched houses, and the beautiful Saltee Islands that lie offshore.

The village, by Irish standards, has shallow historical roots and was a relatively recent creation. The 1640 Down Survey map shows no signs of any village here. It came about a century later and was entirely born out of the lucrative offshore fishing grounds off the Saltee Islands. Almost all 18th-century fishing operated out of small beach-launched boats, and although Kilmore provided a beach it was exposed and had little or no nearby haven for a small boat to run to for shelter. In around the late 1780s, the local fishermen took it upon themselves to establish a more secure position to moor boats in Kilmore. Stones were collected from St. Patrick's Bridge and along the foreshore and at high tide they were floated in on rafts and the loose stones were piled to create an "L" shape boat haven with each arm extending out about 60 metres.


Although a year's breakwater work was often wiped out by a single winter storm this simple barrier served the purpose of the local fishermen for many years. Around this haven the village began to slowly develop, houses were built and additional boats added. By the early 1840s about one hundred boats, averaging four men in each, actively fished out of here. But it was dangerous work and especially so operating out of a makeshift fair-weather harbour. There were a lot of fatalities on this very dangerous coastline.




The area from Hook Head to Carnsore Point was a deadly stretch of water for the sailing vessels of the time. It had strong currents, an inconspicuous low-lying land profile and a host of off lying dangers. Its maritime toll of death and destruction earned it the title of Graveyard of a thousand ships. Ballyteigue Bay, immediately west of Kilmore, presents a perfect example of a sailing ship trap.




The Hook Peninsula presents a western boundary, Great Saltee Island the eastern with the further enclosing St. Patricks Bridge reef, and finally the low-lying sand dune system at the head of the bay. Add the prevailing southwesterly winds that regularly attained gale force with low visibility in the winter and the trap is perfectly set. Navigation errors, stormy conditions or poor visibility brought sailing boats in here totally unaware of the danger until it was too late. Attempts to break out ended in the destruction of ship and crew that is aptly illustrated by the Mexico in the Fethard entry. In the 1800s hardly a winter week passed without some vessel and its crew foundering here.




This appalling loss of ships and lives along the southeast coast added impetus to the creation of a proper safe harbour based upon the tentatively established fishermen’s efforts. By the 1850s the first government-backed pier was constructed in Kilmore Quay to support the fishermen. Soon its use extended well beyond fishing and sailing schooners, importing coal and exporting potatoes became commonplace here. The much needed Kilmore Quay Lifeboat was established in 1847. Thus commenced a long and distinguished history where it has saved more than 100 lives, been awarded nine silver medals and one bronze medal for extraordinary courage in the line of duty. This original harbour set down the template for the quay that is encountered today. Although some of the old walls remain, major redevelopment took place in the mid-1990s when the harbour was extended, deepened and received a 55 berth marina. The marina introduced a new dimension to boating along the south coast of the country bringing with it safe berthage and on-shore facilities for all small and medium-sized craft.




Today Kilmore Quay's special characteristics are immediately obvious. Set at the foot of a largely unexciting low-lying countryside the small fishing and holiday village is truly a little gem. It is a world of placid 'old world' tranquillity emphasised by its traditional neat, white-washed houses, with some dotted thatched cottages. Some of these thatched cottages have stood undisturbed for more than two centuries. All this surrounds the harbour walls of the very active harbour, looking out over the Saltee Islands.




The quaint fishing village has its charms but it is bird-watching, recreational angling and diving that are the area’s main tourist attractions. The most popular recreation has to be visiting the bird life on the Saltee Islands. This is the most famous bird sanctuary in Ireland and the cliffs of these large granite outcrops host the highest number of birds anywhere off the Irish coast. Even those uninterested in birdlife will find the short passage to the islands well worthwhile as they are particularly beautiful. Around the islands, anglers regularly pull in a wide variety of fish species including bass, cod, shark, tope, ling, mackerel, brown, pollock, skate and whiting. Likewise, the surrounding Graveyard of a thousand ships offers some of the most spectacular wreck diving in Ireland, especially around the Islands and Conningbeg Rocks.




Walkers too will find a hike around the harbour past the ‘Memorial Trail & Garden’ to Ballyteigue Burrow a must. The magnificent beach and dunes system presents a 9 km long coastal stretch to the ‘Bar of Lough’ situated opposite Cullenstown. Rich in wildflowers and butterflies, it is the finest sand dune system in southeast Ireland and a lovely place to walk. Kilmore is the perfect place to return with a hearty appetite to sample some of the excellent daily catch from a wide variety of outlets at all price points.

From a boating perspective, Kilmore Quay is one of the nation’s key leisure ports. Located on a pivotal corner of Ireland, with no nearby all-weather alternatives, it makes for an obvious transit location. This charming village provides little if any diversion for vessels entering or exiting the Irish Sea has very well-marked access paths, and all the requisite onshore facilities; marina, chandlery, boatyards, customs services plus the shops, good food, and pubs. Quite apart from its seagoing capabilities, Irish boatmen, and international sailors who represent a third of all leisure vessels that visit Kilmore Quay agree it is an attractive place to visit and to enjoy.

What facilities are available?

There are 15 visitor berths and although this seems a low number, the marina manages to accommodate its guests even in peak seasons. All marina pontoons have water, electricity plus Wi-Fi and the marina provides for bicycle hire and rubbish disposal. Coin operated shower facilities can be found in the harbour master's building along with coin-in-the-slot washers and dryers. Diesel is available on the quay; large quantities by tanker can be arranged via the harbour master, and smaller quantities by jerry can. Further details and prices are available on the Kilmore Harbour Website.

Kilmore also offers an excellent chandlery, marine engineering, lift out capabilities that includes boat storage and surveys. The village has two mini supermarkets and a post office plus a pharmacy in Upper Kilmore, about 5 km from the marina. A wide selection of good pubs and restaurants plus a hotel are all within a short walk from the Marina.

Kilmore Quay is located on R739 22km from Wexford town and just 19km from the international ferry port at Rosslare. A Wexford bus calls twice a day to Kilmore Quay all year round.

Any security concerns?

Kilmore is a quiet provincial fishing port with little or no risk of criminality. The Marina, where most visiting pleasure vessels will stay, is well protected with key fob security plus 24 hour camera surveillance that is maintained by the harbour office.

With thanks to:

Phil Murphy, Kilmore Quay Harbour Master. Photography with thanks to Michael Harpur, David Staincliffe and Burke Corbett.

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