Bathing water quality in Mid-West, Ireland

Mid-West has 15 official bathing waters in the EEA dataset for the 2025 season (11 coastal and 4 lake). 86.7% were classified Excellent — 8.3 points above the 78.4% across Ireland — and 0 were Poor. 9 sites have been Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025.

Carricknola beach — Photo: Gordon Hatton, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

official bathing waters

86.7%

Excellent in 2025

Poor in 2025

Not live: these are annual official classifications. Check the competent authority for today’s notices before swimming.

Before you swim in Mid-West

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local authorities

Bathing season in Ireland: 1 June – 15 September. Beaches.ie shows current swimming restrictions and incidents during the season.

Annual EEA classes do not show temporary bans, short-term pollution or algae alerts. National information last checked 2026-11-01.

Season status: Today (6 November 2026) is outside the official bathing season (1 June – 15 September). Official monitoring is tied to the season (a first sample may be taken shortly before it opens), so there are no current official water-quality results now. The next season starts on 1 June 2027.

Beaches.ie (EPA) →

Map of official bathing waters in Mid-West

Excellent 13Good 2Poor 0

How to read this map: Each dot is one official bathing water, coloured by its 2025 rating; select a dot to open that site. The white area is this region; neighbouring regions are shaded. Sea and large lakes are blue, neighbouring countries grey. Positions: official EEA coordinates. Boundaries: Eurostat NUTS 2024, generalised (© EuroGeographics); lakes: Natural Earth. Outlines are simplified, so a few shoreline dots can sit just offshore.

Sea, lakes and rivers in Mid-West

2025 EEA classes by water type
Water type	Sites	Excellent	Good	Sufficient	Poor	Not classified
Coastal	11	10 (90.9%)	1	0	0	0
Lake	4	3 (75%)	1	0	0	0

Coastal waters are assessed against stricter bacterial limits than lakes and rivers but are diluted far more; see how the classes are calculated.

Most consistent Excellent sites

9 sites were Excellent in all eleven seasons. Ordered by the length of the unbroken Excellent run ending in 2025.

BALLYALLIA LAKE, ENNIS 11 seasons
BALLYCUGGERAN 11 seasons
BISHOPSQUARTER 11 seasons
FANORE 11 seasons
KILKEE 11 seasons
MOUNTSHANNON, LOUGH DERG 11 seasons
SPANISH POINT 11 seasons
WHITE STRAND, DOONBEG 11 seasons
WHITE STRAND, MILTOWN MALBAY 11 seasons
SEAFIELD, QUILTY 8 seasons
CARRIGAHOLT 5 seasons
QUILTY 5 seasons
CAPPAGH PIER, KILRUSH 2 seasons

Rated Poor in 2025

None of the 15 official bathing waters in Mid-West was classified Poor in 2025.

Changes from 2024 to 2025

Improved (0)

None.

Declined (1)

LAHINCH Excellent → Good

How Mid-West rated since 2015

Counts for the sites in today’s 2025 inventory; the Excellent share is calculated over classified sites only.

Season	Classified	Excellent	Excellent share
2025	15	13	86.7%
2024	14	14	100%
2023	14	13	92.9%
2022	14	13	92.9%
2021	14	14	100%
2020	12	12	100%
2019	12	12	100%
2018	12	12	100%
2017	11	11	100%
2016	11	11	100%
2015	11	11	100%

All 15 official bathing waters in Mid-West

Grouped by water type, alphabetical within each group. Open a site for its 2015–2025 history, nearby alternatives, weather forecast and the national profile link.

Download all 15 sites as CSV (classes 2015–2025, coordinates, nearest place; EEA data, CC BY 4.0)

Coastal 11 sites · 90.9% Excellent

BISHOPSQUARTER Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
CAPPAGH PIER, KILRUSH Excellent Excellent 2 seasons in a row
CARRIGAHOLT Excellent Excellent 5 seasons in a row
FANORE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
KILKEE Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
LAHINCH · Ennistimon Good Excellent → Good since 2024
QUILTY Excellent Excellent 5 seasons in a row
SEAFIELD, QUILTY Excellent Excellent 8 seasons in a row
SPANISH POINT Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
WHITE STRAND, DOONBEG Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
WHITE STRAND, MILTOWN MALBAY Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row

Lake 4 sites · 75% Excellent

BALLYALLIA LAKE, ENNIS Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
BALLYCUGGERAN · Killaloe Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row
DROMINEER BEACH · Nenagh Bridge Good
MOUNTSHANNON, LOUGH DERG Excellent Excellent 11 seasons in a row

Compared with other regions in Ireland

#	Region	Sites	Excellent	Poor
1	South-West	30	86.7%	0
2	Mid-West	15	86.7%	0
3	West	33	81.8%	0
4	Border	27	81.5%	0
5	Dublin	19	52.6%	1

Regions with at least 15 official bathing waters. Size, water type and how densely sites are designated differ, so the table is context rather than a verdict.

Quick answers

How many bathing waters in Mid-West were rated Excellent in 2025?: 13 of 15 (86.7%) in the official EEA 2025 classification; 2 were Good, 0 Sufficient and 0 Poor. That ranks Mid-West 2 of 5 Ireland regions by Excellent share.
Which beaches in Mid-West have the best long-term record?: 9 sites were Excellent in every season from 2015 to 2025, for example BALLYALLIA LAKE, ENNIS, BALLYCUGGERAN, BISHOPSQUARTER. See the ranking.
Were any bathing waters in Mid-West rated Poor?: No. None was classified Poor in 2025.
Where do I check whether swimming is allowed today?: On Beaches.ie (EPA) (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local authorities). Temporary bans, pollution alerts and closures are published there and on signs at the water, not in the annual EEA class.

Ireland overview · All regions of Ireland · Bathing season dates

Sources and method

Bathing-water records: European Environment Agency (EEA), data and coordinates reported by Ireland, licensed CC BY 4.0. Region and area boundaries: Eurostat NUTS 2024 (© EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries). Place names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). A site belongs to the area that contains its reported coordinates; a site up to 10 km off the generalised coastline is placed in the nearest area of Ireland. Counts, shares and rankings are calculated by BathingWaterFinder from the official records.