Skerries Bay and Harbour are situated on the east coast of Ireland four miles to the southeast of Balbriggan and twelve miles north of Howth. It offers a bay anchorage with the options of anchoring or picking up moorings off a popular small coastal town. Shallow draft vessels, or vessels that can take-to-the-hard, may come alongside its drying harbour wall or dry on its beach.

A tolerable anchorage can be found in Skerries Bay with good holding. Good shelter is available in offshore winds, southwest round to east, but it is completely open to anything from the west round to the northeast. Left over swell can also make life aboard uncomfortable after a few days of northerly winds. Better protection is available to shallower draft vessels, or vessels that can take to the hard, alongside the pier. Access is straightforward and the harbour has a sectored pierhead light and a marker buoy that marks the approach dangers at the mouth of the bay.

In any northerly conditions or heavy weather Howth Harbour would be the better option. Vessels coming alongside should be prepared to move at short notice and keep an eye on the depth.

Keyfacts for Skerries Bay and Harbour

Position and approaches

Haven position

53° 35.100' N, 006° 6.480' W

At the westernmost end of the Skerries pier where the light stands Oc R 6s.

What is the initial fix?

This waypoint is to the northwest of the Perch buoy marking Cross Rock. Those approaching from the north or north-east can come directly down on this initial fix.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Skerries Bay and Harbour are located 1¾ miles north by northwest of Shenick Point. It is enclosed to the southwest by a causeway to Red Island a former islet that is now joined to the mainland. The small fishing harbour is formed by a 170-metre long pier extending westward from the northwestern end of Red Island and is sheltered by Cross Rock Ledge. A conspicuous sectored light stands on the head of the pier.




Skerries Bay mooring possibilities include anchoring in the bay, picking up moorings or coming alongside at the outer extremity of the south side of the harbour wall and/or drying out further in. The majority of visitors anchor out in the bay that has depths of 3-4 metres where good holding ground will be found. It is also well worthwhile making enquires with the Skerries Sailing Club , to see if it is possible to secure a club mooring further in which are better protected. The club are available on the Club House phone +353 (0)1 8491233, or their mobile +353 (0)83 068 5666 , info@skerriessailingclub.com. The Club punt may also be available on Ch. 72 which is usually monitored during the sailing season.




The pier has up to 3.7 metres at high water springs, and 2.4 to 3 metres at neaps, but it is completely dry at low water except for the outer 60 metres where there is a depth of about 1 to 1.5 metres. This is usually occupied by fishing boats but most vessels may lay alongside a fishing boat for a short stay as it is common practice here. Rafting vessels should be respectful of the needs of the fishing fleet and always be prepared to move at short notice. Fender boards for those coming alongside the wall when no fishing boat is available. The outer pier is made up of corrugate iron and the inner has squared, coursed limestone walls. The corrugate iron particularly requires some added protection than normal fenders are capable off.




The inner harbour dries entirely to a flat sandy bottom, composed of gravel, sand, and mud, that is fairly level and particularly suitable for bilge keel vessels to dry upon.

How to get in?

Approach details are available in eastern Ireland’s coastal overview for Strangford Lough to Dublin Bay . Vessels approaching from the north and east, keeping ¼ north of St Patricks, Colt and Red Isle, will have unimpeded access to Skerries Bay.

Vessels approaching from the south should pass a ½ mile outside the Skerries Island Group. These are three islets that consist of Colt, St. Patrick’s and Shenick Islands that lie about a ½ mile east, 1 mile east, and 1 mile to the southeast respectively of Red Island. They vary from 15 to 18 metres in height and all have extensive rocky foreshores.




It is possible to cut through the sounds of the island group. There is a boat passage between Red Island and Colt Island with a suitable rise, and a narrow passage with a least depth of 3 metres between St Patrick’s Island and Colt Island that is available at all times. These will be seen to be used by local leisure craft but require some involved navigation for those unfamiliar with the area. Details are available in the Navigating through the Skerries Islands route. As a rule, newcomers are better off staying well outside of the Skerries Group.





It is essential to standoff at least a ¼ of a mile from the northern shore of Red Island when approaching Skerries Bay and Harbour. Once an island but now connected to the mainland its shoreline is foul and the foul ground extends out to Cross Rock. Cross Rock is located at the northwest corner of Red Island, on the outer end of the Cross Rock Ledge, and is dry at low water. It and its ledge are perfectly in the path of vessels cutting into the harbour. These may be easily avoided by passing the 'Perch' buoy to port, on its north side, where the initial fix is located.



From the initial fix near the 'Perch' red light-buoy, marking Cross Rock, the harbour will have been readily visible for some time.

Perch - Red Buoy Fl R 10s position: 53° 35.305’N, 006° 06.488’W

From here the light on the pierhead Oc R 6s, bearing between 103°T and 154°T, leads into the bay towards the anchorage.

Skerries Bay Red Island pier - Oc.R.6s.7m 7M position: 53° 35.103'N, 006° 6.484' W

Continue west to steer west from 'Perch' and do not turn into the harbour until the bearing to the pierhead bears less than 154°T or by night when the above sectored-pierhead light becomes visible. This keeps a vessel clear of the rocks and shallows extending north by northwest to Cross Rock.




Anchor in Skerries Bay west by northwest of the pierhead and outside the moorings in 3 metres where very good holding will be found. However, the number of moorings crowding the bay tend to push anchoring well offshore. This reduces the amount of protection available, owing to the extended fetch that makes it uncomfortable and also makes for a long dinghy ride to shore.


It is therefore well worthwhile making enquires with the Skerries Sailing Club to see if it is possible to secure a club mooring further in. Vessels can usually get mooring advice from the sailing club boatman on Ch. 72.



The 150 metres long pier dries out at low water save for the outer 60 metres where a depth of just under a metre remains. Medium draft vessels can come alongside the pier, or more likely a fishing boat in the harbour, but keep an eye on the depth all the way in.




Fender boards are a must if laying alongside the wall. If planning to enter and dry out alongside the harbour wall check the grounding area is clear as large stones are reportedly scattered about in the vicinity. There is one spot on the wall to avoid due to a hard-stony ridge with soft muddy sand on either side. This is at the seaward end of the inner straight stretch of the quay wall. A boat that dries on this ridge can easily topple fore or aft as the tide recedes - the soft mud on either side is less than attractive as anything could be buried in there.



The inner harbour dries entirely to a flat sandy bottom that is particularly suitable for bilge keel vessels.

Why visit here?

The Skerries, in Irish 'Na Sceirí', derives its name from the conjunction of Norse words 'sker', meaning rocks or a reef in the sea, and 'ey' meaning a rocky islet or small island. These terms aptly describe the series of islets and reefs that lie offshore opposite the town here. The Old Norse 'sker' was later brought into the English language via the Scots language word spelled 'skerrie' or 'skerry' and is commonly used phrase for outlying rocks. The area name and term were adopted by the Irish language with the words 'na sceirí' meaning 'the rocks'.




The first known mention of the Skerries area dates back to the second century with talk of it being the point of an invasion. Early writers speak of the landing happening here, either on Shenick or Red Island, both of which were tidal islands at the time. The invaders formed ranks on the island and then at low tide made their way to the mainland. This was much to their misfortune as they would soon to be defeated at the ancient settlement of Knocknagin to the north of Balbriggan.




In 432 AD St Patrick is reputed to have come here from the Strangford Lough area with intentions of conquering the souls of the Irish people for Christianity. He went to pray on what was soon to be called Church Island, now St Patrick’s Island. According to the 'Annals of Inisfallen' Saint Mochonna founded a monastery on the island whereupon it was ten called Church Island. It is recorded in the 'Annals of Munster' that in the year 797 AD the Danes carried out one of their earliest Irish coastal raids here plundering the Church Island monastery. It is then broadly assumed that the Vikings then occupied the excellent natural harbour on account of the Norse-derived name and the many Viking surnames that remain in the locality to this day. By 1120 the Danes had become Christians when Sitric, who was a son of a Dane called Murchard, re-founded the monastery on Church Island. He dedicated the island to St Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, calling the area Holmpatrick; the prefix 'holm' being from the old Danish word for 'harbour'.




The origins of Red Island’s name is however uncertain and many theories are advanced. Some believe the name stems from the dyeing or 'barking' of sails in the old barking yard in the town. The sails were taken to the island and spread out to dry. Continuous spreading of sails, still wet with dye, caused the rocks and the soil of the island to redden. Others suggest that the name comes from the time when Skerries was a large fishing centre. The fishermen spreading hundreds of their reddish-brown nets on the island to dry lending the island its name. Others suggest the 'red' went back to a Viking name that meant 'red' as it does in English today. It was common for a place to be called after a chieftain and 'red' was a common nickname with the number of red hair genes in the Viking race. So the name could have been derived from 'Red's Ey', a name that moved easily into English as 'Red Island'. Whatever the case Red Island is certainly no longer an island. Colt Island is likely to have been derived from the Viking word 'kult' that has the same meaning as the modern English word 'colt', a young horse. It would have needed another larger island alongside, most likely St. Patrick’s Island, to have been called 'herschel' meaning horse at the time; thereby creating a horse and colt.




Re-established as an important centre for Christianity it was Augustinian monks that were to shape and define the town character in the following centuries. In 1148, Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, arranged a synod on St Patrick's Island to settle differences between the Irish Christians and the Pope. Fifteen bishops, two hundred priests and other clergy convened to find a solution here. Afterwards, St. Malachy was sent to Rome to discuss the decisions with the Pope. This was never to transpire as he died on the route at the monastery of Clairvaux in France under the attendance of St. Bernard. By 1220 the Augustinian monks thought the island an unsuitable location for their monastery and moved to the mainland creating the 'Priory of Holmpatrick', or what was more correctly called 'The Monastery of the Canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine'. Cosmo De La Hayde was the last Abbot of Holmpatrick Abbey before it was transferred to the mainland in 1224. The new monastery of Holmpatrick flourished and in time the fishing village of Skerries joined with it to form the heart of the present town.




Sadly the monastery was to disappear in time of which no trace remains. What is well evident today is the harbour that King Henry VII commenced when he gave the 'Prior of Holmpatrick' permission to build a pier in 1496. At this time, Skerries was the property of the monastery but this was to come to an end in 1565 after the Reformation of that year. A decade later Sir Henry Sydney landed here, in 1575, when sent by Queen Elizabeth as Lord-Deputy of Ireland. By then the monastery and its lands became the property of several Earls and landowners who partially maintained the harbour through the centuries. The most important of these were the Hamilton family who purchased Skerries and the Manor of Holmpatrick from the earl of Thomond in 1721.




Comparisons between maps of Skerries drawn in 1703 and 1760 suggest that the Hamilton family was responsible for setting out the streets of the town as they are today. The took great interest in the business of the harbour and it was recorded a mooring fee was levied on every ship entering the harbour. Those coming from England had to pay 4d and those coming from foreign countries 3/4. In 1759 the Irish parliament granted the sum of £2,000 to John Hamilton to enlarge and extend the pier. During the days of sail, the harbour was a busy trading port and above the pier stood 'The Great Windmills of Skerries' as another unique development for the area. The practice of stone-ground milling dates back as far as the middle of the 16-century and was also introduced to the area by the Augustinian monks. The late 18th and early 19th century was the heyday of the Skerries tower mills but a bakery existed in the town that produced bread and confectionery until the middle of the 1980s.




But after the arrival of deeper steamships, the harbour was too shallow and this trade died away but fishing remained. Samuel Lewis, 1837 'A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland' noted of Skerries Harbour "Previously to the withdrawing of the fishery bounties, the trade of this place was very considerable; at present only 46 boats of 40 tons, and carrying 7 men each, are employed in the fishery. The mainland by a causeway which, with a small pier on the north side, forms the harbour of Skerries. This harbour is the best on this part of the coast, having a good roadstead which is safe in southerly winds". Despite further petitions to extend the pier into 'ten feet of water at low tide', to enable steamships to berth little was done. This was expensive development and the Irish parliament could not be persuaded to improve the harbour in Skerries. Nor the parliament in London, after the 1801 'Act of Union' had put an end to the Irish Parliament. After some time the pier fell into decay but was repaired to some working order by the Hamiltons at their own expense.




In 1877 control passed from Hamilton family to the Dublin Port and Docks Board. Circa 1880 the limestone retaining walls, to the southwest of Skerries Pier and forming embankment along Harbour Road were then built. It would seem to have changed its fortunes for in the year of 1884, it was recorded that 286 sailing vessels loaded and unloaded here. Limestone from Milverton Quarries was the biggest export, being used for building and in road-making. This was accompanied by large scale fishing activity as Skerries was one of the main fishing ports in the area at the time. It could take sizable vessels as after the 1916 Rising, a British Destroyer landed troops at Skerries to help the Dublin garrisons suppress the rising. 200 men of the North Staffordshire Regiment landed under the command of Captain Clay. To try to impede their progress to Dublin, local rebels blew up the bridge over the railway in Donabate. It was not until the 1960s that the 55-metre long and 9-metre wide extension was added to the existing pier bringing it to its current size. Although it had taken two hundred years and appeals to three different seats of Governments, the final extension of Skerries never achieved the original 1769 petition of achieving ten feet of water.




Today Skerries is a prosperous fishing town with much to offer the coastal cruising boatman. The town has many amenities which are enjoyed by both residents and visitors alike. The long sandy beaches, patrolled by lifeguards in the summer months, and the secluded harbour are awash with pubs and restaurants. These offer excellent eating and drinking locations ready at hand. There are many walks around Skerries, whether they are along the strand, or up around The Head where seals can be seen bobbing in the water.




Recently two fully restored and working windmills, a five-sail Great Windmill and a thatched four-sail windmill, were re-established by Fingal County Council as a local amenity and tourist attraction. The larger four and a half storey tower mill is a reconstruction of the mill that suffered a disastrous fire during a gale about 1860. The mills have been restored to date from the 16th-century and are in working order. Guided tours of the mills are available with their associated mill ponds, mill races and wetlands as a focal point for Skerries Town Park. The watermill also houses the Watermill Café, a craft shop and exhibition space that may be accessed independently. The site commands wonderful views of the coast; the off-shore islands, Skerries, with its long golden beach on one side and harbour dotted with yachts on the other, culminates in the peninsula of Red Island and Northern Ireland’s Mountains of Mourne in the far distance. The close-by Ardgillan Demesne, halfway along the road to Balbriggan, offers a series of walks through wooded parklands or open spaces with good views of the sea.




In 1987 the outlying Skerries Islands Group became wildlife reserves. One of the three islands offshore, Shenick Island, may be reached at low tide by walkers but great care must be taken when the tide turns. Visitors to Shenick Island will find a Martello tower, which along with Red Island, are one of a number of defensive towers erected during the Napoleonic era along the Irish coast. The other islands can be visited by tender or via guided tours that operate out of the harbour during the sailing season.




From a particular boating perspective, the very welcoming Skerries Sailing Club has its clubhouse on the quay and is a must for all visiting boatmen. The club burgee has a goat that commemorates a story of St. Patrick. He left his pet goat in the care of Skerries people whilst he went out to pray on the island that was to bear his name. But when he returned he found the Skerries people had eaten the goat. A 'footprint' on Red Island Springboards swimming spot is supposed to owe its existence to St Patrick stamping his foot on the rock when he found out about his goat.




Today a plaque in the goat's memory is to be found under St Patrick's statue on the front of the local Roman Catholic Church. Skerries sailing club also hosts both National and World sailing events. Current club members assure visitors that pet goats will meet with no harm.

What facilities are available?

Water is available at the inner end of the pier, diesel from a filling station about a mile away, provisions from several excellent shops in the town.

Skerries Sailing Club affords facilities to visiting boatmen including moorings.
Phone: +353 1 8491233
VHF: CH 72 is usually monitored during the sailing season.

Skerries Sailing Club host a Skerries Windguru Station that provides real time wind speed, direction and also reports the current temperature.

The airport and ferry ports are quickly and easily accessible from Skerries. Dublin Bus operates a public transport system for Skerries to the centre of Dublin and a rail service runs seven days a week. The train runs between Dublin city centre and Drogheda/Dundalk.

Any security concerns?

All owners should secure their vessel if leaving it unattended alongside the wall.

With thanks to:

Charlie Kavanagh ISA/RYA Yachtmaster Instructor/Examiner and local boatman Brian Lennon.