Protected sectors

What's the story here?

Tralong Bay is a small cove situated about one mile east of Goat’s Head, the eastern side of the entrance to Glandore. It is a foot-shaped inlet that extends ½ inland from its outer high cliffs. The inlet dries out to about midway and there is a slipway situated on its western side above the drying point.




The outer end of the bay provides good shelter in offshore winds and good depths with 2 metres of water available 300 metres from the slip.

How to get in?

Use Ireland’s coastal overview for Cork Harbour to Mizen Head for seaward approaches. Glandore Bay lies between Sheela Point and Galley Head, a distance of about 5¾ miles, and embraces Glandore Harbour, Rosscarbery Bay and some small inlets, of which Tralong Bay is one. The Glandore entry provides approach directions for this general area although from seaward Mill Cove can be difficult to identify for first-time visitors.

Vessels approaching from the west, or Glandore area, will find Tralong Bay by simply following the shoreline around from Goats Head, on the eastern shoreline of Glandore’s Harbour’s entrance, for 1-mile east-northeast. The shore between Goats Head and Tralong Bay is foul out to a distance of 200 metres practically all the way. Keeping 500 metres offshore, however, clears all dangers.




Vessels approaching from the east should stand out from the Black Rocks, as described below, on the western side of the approach Mill Cove. Give them a wide berth as the main cluster has several outliers.




From the initial fix, approach the bays outer waters that are enclosed between two clusters of rocks.




On the east side of the approach, between Mill Cove and Tralong, are the above mentioned Black Rocks. They are a drying cluster of rock with a plateau of low-lying outliers that stretch westward extending out about 400 metres from the headland.




On the west side and standing 400 metres offshore of the entrance is the pyramid-shaped Tralong Rock. It extends ¼ of a mile off the west point of Tralong Bay, stands 11 meters high and has a reef surrounding it.




The most dangerous is a shelf with 2.4 metres LAT stretching 200 metres to the southeast of Tralong Rock with a rocky head at about half that distance. Likewise, Tralong Rock has outlying rocks to the northwest between it and the shore.




As such, it is important not to cut around or inshore of very visible Tralong Rock as it has these hidden surrounding outlying rocks.




Give both these groups a berth of 200-metres. With a ⅓ of a mile between them and depths of over 14 metres, there is plenty of sea room and depth to avoid these dangers with good visibility. This should also be said of the eastern headland that has a reef extending out about 100 metres from its foot.




From here continue in mid-channel into Tralong Bay that will become apparent. Expect to find 6 metres at the entrance, declining to 2.5 metres in the middle of the bay where depths decline abruptly soon after to the drying head of the bay.



Anchor in sand according to draft and conditions. Land on the beach or at the small drying slip on the west side of the bay.

Why visit here?

Tralong, in Irish 'Trá Long', first recorded as 'Tralang' in 1615 and variously spelt as 'Tralonge, Tralung, Tralang' down through the centuries, the bay takes its name form the sea.




The name is the conjunction of words 'Trá Long'. 'Trá is the Irish word for 'beach' or 'strand' and 'long' is the Irish for a 'ship' which was a word that that was widely used in ancient times such as in the Saxon word 'lang' or Latin 'longus'. So the name 'Trá Long' means 'the strand of the ships' and the name indicates that the natural inlet has been taken advantage of to shelter vessels since ancient times. Having said this, a fair was held on the beach in bygone times and its name during this period became 'Trá an Aonaigh', 'beach of the fair'.




But long before this, in prehistoric times, Tralong Bay was not a sea inlet at all but a low-lying woodland and a dense forest existed here as early as 7000 years ago. After the end of the Ice Age, more than four millennia ago, the forest that thrived in the valley was drowned by an inundation. Peat cores, taken from the Tralong foreshore have uncovered a peat layer that is 4 metres thick.




So, although hard to imagine, when surveying the pretty sea inlet you are looking at a space that was once a thick forest and you might be able to partake in an unmissable journey into deep history. Subject to the effects of the preceding winter storms there may be evidence to inspect.




The peat mass is always readily evident in the beach in the northwest corner about 300 metres northward of the slip. But if you look closely and you will most likely be able to see the scattered branch and twig debris of the ancient forest interspersed with numerous tree boles and roots.




From a boating perspective, Tralong provides the best of the limited protection available of the inlets along this coastline from Galley Head. It also makes for a pleasant day trip out of Glandore. Its four delightful sandy and shale beaches spread out along the shorefront make it an ideal location for a family boat to let children off the roam.

What facilities are available?

There are no facilities at this location save for the slip.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel in Tralong Bay.

With thanks to:

Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.