What's the story here?

Mill Cove, is a natural recess on the northern mainland side of the enclosed body of water that is Bearhaven. It is situated about a ½ mile north by northeast of Hornet Rock buoy and enclosed on its eastern side by the old naval pier of the shore terminal that once corresponded with Lawrence Cove. The area above this is now the Berehaven Camper & Amenity Park golf club and recreational vehicle park.




The bay offers 2 - 3 metres in clear water over excellent mud holding. Land by tender on the leading up to the green immediately north of Sea Point.

How to get in?

Use the directions provided for Castletownbere , also known as Castletown Bearhaven, for approaches to Bearhaven and the passage up Bearhaven. The approach to Mill Cove is made from between Bardini Reefer Cardinal and the Hornet Cardinal buoy. Sea Point with its old pier and watch station makes for a prominent mark.




Mill Cove is on its western side of the old pier and to should not be mistaken for the small inlet of Beal Lough situated on its east side. It has a narrow entrance and has Pontoon Pier from which one of two ferries that cross to Bere Island operates. There is no space in Beal Lough for a vessel to anchor.




The position of the marine farm situated outside the entrance and the old pier to the east of the cove will be clearly visible from the initial fix.




Pass well clear to the east of the farm's outer limits. The outer marine farm’s yellow marker buoys have long trailing lines up to 200 metres long. They should be given a wide berth as they could easily foul the propeller of a vessel exiting from the west.




The entrance to the bight that is Mill Cove is situated between Corrigagannive Point, on the west and Sea Point on the eastern side. The western Corrigagannive Point is foul out to 100 metres to the east with rocks that dry to 1.2 and 2.4 metres, located about 50 metres to the west and south. It also has a dangerous outlier, situated 200 metres to the southwest, that dries to 0.9 metres.




On the eastern side is the small 1.5 metres high Illaunboudane Islet that is always visible and about 80 metres to the southwest of Sea Point. Illaunboudane Islet is foul out to 50 metres all around, and it also has an uncharted and drying rock about 60 metres to the southwest.




This is situated about in line with the lie of the old stone pier's inner wall. Keeping the inner face open, places a boat north of this outlier. At low water, these rocks all show but at high water it is best to select a west of middle approach into Mill Cove to avoid this rock to the south of Illaunboudane.




Anchor immediately inside the entrance according to draft. 2 metres will be found just inside a line connecting the east and west points in clear water over excellent mud holding.




The inner half of the cove shallows quickly and is boulder-strewn. The northern part of the harbour dries out so it is not advised to sound in beyond the entrance.




Best landings are to be had on the beach at the eastern side of the quay immediately behind Sea Point. The quay outside the cove is owned by the Defence Department and has restricted access so no landings are permitted there.

Why visit here?

Mill Cove principal mark is the pier close east of Sea Point and its overlooking watch station. The strait and island are dotted with observation buildings and this is a legacy from when Berehaven Harbour was once a base for the British Navy.




Berehaven was chosen on account of its deep sheltered waters and its ready access to the Atlantic Ocean. With a large and expanding empire to police, Britain had naval bases all over the world, and Berehaven was thus in no way remarkable. The Royal Navy first moved into the waters of West Cork in 1797 after a French attempt to invade Ireland by way of Bantry Bay. Then the naval base was little more than an anchorage with a modest shore establishment of four Martello towers on Bere Island. This was all modernised and strengthened at the end of the nineteenth century, in response to the rising power of the French and more particularly the German navy. An arms race had commenced with the arrival of the British Dreadnought class of battleship which had a specific vulnerability when undergoing routine maintenance. They needed this time and 48 hours of elaborate protection whilst they got up sufficient steam to power their steerage and guns. So this Victorian phase of construction led to the construction of seven gun batteries on Bere to protect the battleships in port.




In the run-up to the First World War, there was an arms race in the 'Dreadnaught class' of a battleship that would bring the newest and most fearsome pre-war version HMS Tiger to Berehaven. HMS Tiger came to undergo gunnery trials in the open waters of the Atlantic as by this stage its guns could not be tested in the English Channel. Not only would they have been a danger to the busy shipping lanes but might also, given the gun's range of nearly fourteen miles, have constituted an act of war against France. But it took extraordinary resources to keep a fleet of this class of ship at sea as a ship like Tiger burned through up to 2,000 tons of coal in a busy week and, to accommodate such ships, Bere Island had a fuel dump with a capacity of half a million tons.




The pier east of Mill Cove was the mainland terminal that corresponded with Lawrence Cove on Bere Island and it was used for transporting stores and munitions to the then naval fortress of Bere Island. The golf course, now Berehaven Golf Club, had been part of the Royal Naval base and was originally constructed to provide a diversion for the sailors of the Royal Navy. The tennis court used to be where huge oil tanks stood. Sentry boxes still stand at the entrance to the golf course as well as the one that overlooks the jetty close to the course’s 8th hole. Following the establishment of the Irish Free State, Bearhaven was one of three deepwater Treaty Ports held from 1922 to 1938. The Mill Cove pier is now owned by the Irish Defence Department.




The watch station overlooks the wreck of the Bardini Reefer today located a half-mile to the southwest of the cove. It is now a pale shadow of what it looked like in 1956 when it was built and named the Monte Arucas after a mountain in the Canary Islands. It was subsequently renamed the Nissos Kerkyra and later the Atlantic Reefer before she passed into the Bardini Shipping Corporation when she became known as the Bardini Reefer. Working as an eastern bloc fish-factory ship in 1982 her gross tonnage was registered as 3,976 which suggests that the superstructure was extended. As she was preparing to depart Berehaven for dry dock the ship caught fire on the 15th of December and was gutted by an explosion that ripped through her in the early hours of the following morning. The blaze continued for two days until December 18th, after being holed by the explosion, it finally sank. All 12 aboard had been safely rescued on the night of the 15th. Sunk in very shallow waters of the haven it is inviting to shipwreck divers.




From a boating point of view, Mill Cove is ideally suited to those who like quiet repose and solitude. It is very much out of the way yet Castletownbere is just a half an hour’s walk, or to get a bus service to Cork City. It also provides easy access to the Lawrence Cove via the ferry from Beal Lough, the small cove east of Sea Point, that offers the opportunity to explore Bear Island.




For those interested in the possibility of a round of golf, the Bearhaven Golf Club's nine-hole course crosses over the stream that enters the cove at its head - +353 (0)27 70700, info@berehavengolf.com. Or for those who just want to take it easy, Mill Cove is a nice sun trap anchorage tucked in underneath the coastal plateau and mountains of the Beara Peninsula where a vessel can happily sleep at anchor.

What facilities are available?

There are no facilities at this location, except for the landing beach which is adjacent to the golf clubhouse P: +353 27 71957. A car ferry crosses from Pontoon Pier in Beal Lough to Lawrence’s Cove where buses are available to Cork City. Castletown & Bearhaven is a thirty minute walk.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored off Mill Cove.

With thanks to:

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