Located on Ireland’s southwest coast, Ballydehob Bay lies at the head of the extensive shallow Roaringwater Bay inlet. It offers a secluded anchorage in a remote area with access to the small coastal town up the estuary with a rise of the tide. It is also possible to dry out alongside the old town quay.

Sheltered from the sea by rocks and islands to the westward of it, Ballydehob Bay provides a good well-sheltered anchorage. Access is available at all stages of the tide requires attentive daylight navigation to find and pass through a fairway leading to the bay through extensive marine farms in the head of the bay.

Keyfacts for Ballydehob Bay

Position and approaches

Haven position

51° 32.605' N, 009° 25.938' W

This is in 3 metres inside the entrance points of Ballydehob Bay.

What is the initial fix?

This is the vicinity of the entrance to the fairway that opens between the aquaculture rafts in the north end of Roaringwater Bay.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Ballydehob Bay is situated at the head of the extensive Roaringwater Bay that lies at the northeastern extreme of Long Island Bay. It is a secluded anchorage in a bay set into a rural landscape about 1½ miles down the drying estuary that leads to the coastal village of Ballydehob. The small village has a drying stone quay just below its weir and signature stone viaduct.

Despite its forbidding name the bays at the head of Roaringwater Bay, Ballydehob Bay and Poulgorm Bay, ½ a mile eastward, provide quiet and well-sheltered anchorages to leisure vessels. Set deep into the bay they are well sheltered from the sea by the rocks, islands and fish farms to the south-westward.




It is also possible for shoal draft vessels that can take to the bottom to obtain perfect protection by drying out alongside the quay. It would be best to do a reconnoitre of the quay first by tender.

How to get in?

Offshore details are available in southwestern Ireland’s Coastal Overview for Cork Harbour to Mizen Head seaward approaches, Poulgorm Bay , ½ a mile eastward, provides approach directions as its path passes over the mouth of Ballydehob Bay.




Anchor according to draft and conditions. Expect 3 metres LAT in the entrance reducing to 1.2 metres LAT in the middle of the bay. Ballydehob Bay has excellent mud holding.

Land at a small quay at the end of a lane from Skeaghanore West in the northeast end of Ballydehob Bay. Alternatively, land at Ballydehob's quay 1½ miles further up the estuary is also possible on the rise.




A trip by tender up to Ballydehob is made easy by buoys that mark the meandering fairway snaking up the estuary. On a rising tide, it takes about 20 minutes by tender. A dock, with a slip, will be seen on the north side of the quay that is used by small local boats.




Shoal draft vessels that can take to the bottom can dry out alongside the quay over a firm bottom of small stones. Proceed as above and when after the narrows the tree-covered Illaunroe is abrest the arches of the old viaduct will mark the position of the quay.




Floating weed over the reefs that flank the final approach to the quay makes their position known.
The quay is situated immediately downstream of a weir.




The best place to come alongside is the inner east side of the quay, just above protruding steps.

Why visit here?

Ballydehob takes its name from the Irish Béal an Dá Chab, 'the ford of the two cabs' or fords. The name is derived from its position being at the confluence of three streams, whose united waters are then crossed by a handsome stone bridge.




Copper mining in the area goes back to the Bronze Age (2200-600 B.C.) when Mount Gabriel, just west of the village, was extensively mined by the earliest inhabitants of the island. Ballydehob's heyday would come in the early part of the 19th century when copper mining once again took off in the region. These mines were most notably The Cappagh mine, just along the shoreline, on Horse Island, Ballycumisk, Cusheen, Letter and Crookhaven, while barytes deposits at Dreenalomane were being exploited on a large scale.




During this period the mining companies, their miners and boats from the other inhabited islands offshore would come upriver to stock up with supplies from the village. Likewise, sand-boats brought sea-sand into Ballydehob to enrich lime-deprived farmland also plied their way up the estuary.




This all made Balldehob a busy place that was doing a bisque trade. By the 1840s the population of the area had swelled to nearly 20,000. It must have been a swinging boomtown as a police constabulary and barracks was established in Ballydehob approximately 6 years before the first London police force. But then disaster struck when the potato crop failed and the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1849 descended. This affected Ballydehob and the whole of West Cork in a most devastating way. Thousands died and thousands more emigrated. Between 1841 and 1851 the population of the area fell by 42%, a decline that was much higher than the national average. Ballydehob never recovered and it has a resident population of less than 300 today.




The most striking feature of the village would come in the latter half of that century in the shape of its beautiful twelve-arched stone railway viaduct. The project began in 1884 main railway line from Cork had reached Skibbereen and was paid for by many West Cork ratepayers. It took two years to complete the 14¼ miles of line and the viaduct that spans the river just above the quay. The completed line was generally level but with a few steep gradients for short lengths and several sharp curves. The single crossing place and only major engineering work that was required was at Ballydehob with its viaduct. It also had the only principal stop point as all the other stops were never anything more than roadside halts, although there is a siding at Kilcoe. When complete the service used a, seemingly insubstantial, '3-foot narrow gauge' which doubtlessly dictated the railway's speed limit of 15 mph.




The service was a complete success and was extended to Schull Pier five years later mainly for the fishing trade. Through the years some forty men were steadily employed by this section of the West Carbery Tramway & Light Railway, or the 'tram' as the train was called locally. But by the middle of the 20th-century mounting losses, coal shortages and the arrival of buses and motor cars made it inviable and the railway was finally closed in 1947. The viaduct is now pedestrianised offering wonderful views out over the estuary.




Despite its small population this small village boasts a dozen pubs and eateries, and ample shops to provision. The charming gateway to the rugged and beautiful Mizen peninsula, or the termination of Roaringwater Bay for mariners, has plenty of interest. Plenty of festivals such as the Ballydehob Traditional Music Weekend, annual traditional music, song, and dance festival, the Ballydehob Jazz Festival, Ballydehob Country Music Festival, Ballydehob Old Time Threshing & Vintage Weekend, Fastnet Maritime and Folk Festival, and West Cork Yoga Festival keep this a lively village. Most notably amongst these for mariners is the annual 'Gathering of the Boats', or Cruinniu na mBad, where a flotilla of working boats and other traditional sailing vessels descend upon Ballydehob Quay.




From a boating perspective, this is another excellent anchorage and/or berth in this wonderful cruising ground. From the bay this charismatic little village, on a rising tide, is only 20 minutes up the estuary by tender. Indeed those with vessels that can dry are welcome to come alongside the quay. Alternatively, one can stay out in the quiet of the bay, in a natural setting with the peaceful company of the waders and wildfowl on the ebb tide.

What facilities are available?

Ballydehob, 20 minutes by tender at high water, has a water tap 300m from the quay, a bottle bank and litter bins. A service station fuel and groceries, as does a small shop up the main street. There is a laundrette and hardware, health and gourmet food stores and a good second-hand bookshop. The town has a golf range with a five-hole course.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored in Ballydehob.

With thanks to:

Michael Harpur eOceanic.