
Kilcrohane pier is situated in Co. Cork on the southwest coast of Ireland, about halfway up the north shore of Dunmanus Bay inlet. It provides an anchorage off a pier with a small village close inland.
The small rocky cove provides an exposed anchorage that can only be utilised with northerly component conditions. Although difficult to identify, even in daylight, access is straightforward at any stage of the tide.
Keyfacts for Kilcrohane Pier
Last modified
July 19th 2018 Summary* Restrictions apply
A tolerable location with straightforward access.Facilities
Nature
Considerations
Position and approaches
Expand to new tab or fullscreen
Haven position
East of the pier in about three metres.
What are the initial fixes?
The following waypoints will set up a final approach:(i) Dunmanus Bay initial fix

This initial fix positions an Atlantic approach to Dunmanus Bay and is set midway between Sheep's Head and Mizen Head.
(ii) Kilcrohane Pier initial fix

This is situated to the east of Kilcrohane Point just outside the middle of the bay on the 20 metre contour. It is quarter of a mile out from the pier and a course of 290°T from here leads to the pier.
What are the key points of the approach?
Offshore details are available in southwestern Ireland’s Coastal Overview for Mizen Head to Loop Head
.
Not what you need?
Click the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons to progress through neighbouring havens in a coastal 'clockwise' or 'anti-clockwise' sequence. Below are the ten nearest havens to Kilcrohane Pier for your convenience.
Ten nearest havens by straight line charted distance and bearing:
- Dooneen Pier - 0.9 miles WSW
- Dunmanus Harbour - 1.4 miles SSE
- Ballynatra - 1.6 miles WSW
- Kitchen Cove - 1.7 miles ENE
- Toormore Cove - 2.4 miles SSE
- Carrigmore Bay - 2.5 miles SSE
- Dunbeacon Cove - 2.6 miles ENE
- Goleen - 3 miles S
- Lonehort Harbour - 3.3 miles NW
- Dunbeacon Harbour - 3.6 miles ENE
These havens are ordered by straight line charted distance and bearing, and can be reordered by compass direction or coastal sequence:
- Dooneen Pier - 0.9 miles WSW
- Dunmanus Harbour - 1.4 miles SSE
- Ballynatra - 1.6 miles WSW
- Kitchen Cove - 1.7 miles ENE
- Toormore Cove - 2.4 miles SSE
- Carrigmore Bay - 2.5 miles SSE
- Dunbeacon Cove - 2.6 miles ENE
- Goleen - 3 miles S
- Lonehort Harbour - 3.3 miles NW
- Dunbeacon Harbour - 3.6 miles ENE
How to get in?
Kilcrohane Pier is situated close northeast of Kilcrohane Point on the western side of the bight in the northern shore.
There are no outlying dangers and the pier may be approached directly. The seabed here is steep and expect depths to rapidly decrease as the pier is approached.

Land at the pier or its slip and if both are occupied there is also a shingle beach. The small Kilcrohan River flows into the bay close to the pier. A road leads from the pier to the village about 1.5 km away.
Why visit here?
Kilcrohane, in Irish Cill Chrócháin meaning the Church of Crochan, takes its name after St. Crohan who founded a small religious settlement here.

Today Kilcrohane is a lively and vibrant seaside village whose population swells in the busy summer months. The last coastal village on the Sheep's Head Peninsula, after Durrus and Ahakista, it is also the largest. After this Sheep's Head becomes more baron and jagged as it narrows out to its lighthouse at the tip. This makes it an ideal base to access the famous Sheep's Head Way hill walking route. But for those who want to take on a short but interesting walk it is possible to walk to the top of the 344 metres high Seefin Sheep's Head's highest mountain from here. Kilcrohane's central road loops around Caher Mountain reaching its highest point just 2km north of the village at a spectacular pass between the two mountains. From the pass, it is possible to walk to the top of Seefin where the views are simply spectacular.

During the season Kilcrohane has a carnival held on the third week of July that draws large crowds in good weather. The pier is a popular swimming place and there are numerous private coves dotted along the coast. The water is clear and a beautiful place for swimming and Dunmanus Bay’s abundance of pollock and mackerel attract anglers to the area.
From a boating point of view, this is very much a settled weather anchorage. Kilcrohane has just enough facilities to make it a viable Sheep's Head replenishment point, and it makes for a good landing site to set down a shore party to explore the outer end of the Sheep’s Head Way. Other than this it offers a good lunch stop location or in settled conditions, a night’s stop would be possible.
What facilities are available?
1.5 km from Kilcrohane pier is the village of Kilcrohane that features two pubs, a wine bar, several Bed and Breakfasts of which two have restaurants, an oldfashioned shop that strives to accommodate all needs, a post office, a garage and a summer cafe and restaurant.Any security concerns?
Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored off Kilcrohane Pier.With thanks to:
Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford. Photography with thanks to Andrew Wood, Pam Brophy, Berdrisharhar, Richard Webb and Burke Corbett.


Information about the Sheep's Head Way walk
About Kilcrohane Pier
Kilcrohane, in Irish Cill Chrócháin meaning the Church of Crochan, takes its name after St. Crohan who founded a small religious settlement here.


Today Kilcrohane is a lively and vibrant seaside village whose population swells in the busy summer months. The last coastal village on the Sheep's Head Peninsula, after Durrus and Ahakista, it is also the largest. After this Sheep's Head becomes more baron and jagged as it narrows out to its lighthouse at the tip. This makes it an ideal base to access the famous Sheep's Head Way hill walking route. But for those who want to take on a short but interesting walk it is possible to walk to the top of the 344 metres high Seefin Sheep's Head's highest mountain from here. Kilcrohane's central road loops around Caher Mountain reaching its highest point just 2km north of the village at a spectacular pass between the two mountains. From the pass, it is possible to walk to the top of Seefin where the views are simply spectacular.

During the season Kilcrohane has a carnival held on the third week of July that draws large crowds in good weather. The pier is a popular swimming place and there are numerous private coves dotted along the coast. The water is clear and a beautiful place for swimming and Dunmanus Bay’s abundance of pollock and mackerel attract anglers to the area.
From a boating point of view, this is very much a settled weather anchorage. Kilcrohane has just enough facilities to make it a viable Sheep's Head replenishment point, and it makes for a good landing site to set down a shore party to explore the outer end of the Sheep’s Head Way. Other than this it offers a good lunch stop location or in settled conditions, a night’s stop would be possible.
Other options in this area
Click the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons to progress through neighbouring havens in a coastal 'clockwise' or 'anti-clockwise' sequence. Alternatively here are the ten nearest havens available in picture view:
Coastal clockwise:
Dooneen Pier - 0.9 miles WSWBallynatra - 1.6 miles WSW
Bantry Harbour - 6.7 miles NE
Glengarriff Harbour - 7.2 miles NNE
Adrigole - 4.1 miles N
Coastal anti-clockwise:
Kitchen Cove - 1.7 miles ENEDunbeacon Harbour - 3.6 miles ENE
Dunbeacon Cove - 2.6 miles ENE
Dunmanus Harbour - 1.4 miles SSE
Crookhaven - 4 miles S
Navigational pictures
These additional images feature in the 'How to get in' section of our detailed view for Kilcrohane Pier.





Detail view | Off |
Picture view | On |
Information about the Sheep's Head Way walk
Add your review or comment:
Please log in to leave a review of this haven.
Please note eOceanic 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. Free to use sea charts courtesy of Navionics.