Keem Bay, the jewel in the crown of Achill Island, has once again been referenced as one of the top beach destinations in Ireland. Travel journalist Pol O Conghaile appeared today (Monday 27th April, 2020) on Newstalk Radio’s Pat Kenny show to discuss ‘The Best Beach Destinations for When We Can Travel.
Asked by host Pat Kenny about the best places for sea swimming in Ireland, O Conghaile replied, “I have a hashtag running called #WhenWeTravelAgain and I was wondering ‘what are people’s favourite beaches in Ireland’ and there were hundreds of replies which made me chomp at the bit and want to get out and explore our coastline again … when its safe to do so, of course.”
He continued, “[one of] a couple that sprung up was Keem Bay, Achill Island. We know it as that epic National Geographic style image of that beautiful long cove at the end of the island. The water there can be surprisingly clear in good weather, it is life-guarded in summer, and I have had some gorgeous swims there.” Pol went on to talk about the basking sharks in Keem, which historically were fished from currachs in Keem to such an extent that they were dangerously overfished: “Basking shark have started to return to the bay, and April to August is the basking shark season. Last season we saw some beautiful drone footage of basking sharks swimming in that bay, it was just gorgeous.”
Listen to ‘The Best Beach Destinations for When We Can Travel’
The drone footage of basking sharks in Keem Bay which was referenced by Pol O Conghaile was shot by Sean Molloy and can be viewed on YouTube: