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The round of Howth Head is a popular trip for Dublin sea paddlers. Ireland's Eye is also attractive to take in as part of the excursion. Attractive for its scenery, and its handy shuttle, the only downside to this trip is a sewerage outlet operating just off the Nose of Howth at O301389 on the NE corner of the Head. However, the situation is much improved in 2003 as most of the sewage now goes to the modern treatment works in Ringsend.
The put-in point to the N is at the public slipway at the RNLI station in Howth Harbour. There is plentiful parking. To the S of the Head, the launching point is the sandy beach at Sutton Sailing Club at O265-377, just NW of the Martello Tower. The Club is welcoming to small competent and considerate parties. Parking is limited so it is not suitable for large groups. Also, at LW, the tide goes a long way out. A shingle beach at O296-373, 1km N of the Bailey Lighthouse O297-363 offers a welcome break, and there is even a track upwards to the commonage above. Stopping is also possible in several places on the S side.
The round of Howth is usually done -anti clockwise, on a rising tide, best in calm or gentle southerlies. An ?out and back? trip from Howth Harbour is also quite feasible and avoids the shuttle.
SPA
Fulmar, Cormorant, Shag, Herring Gull, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Black Guillemot.
Tides
The main E coast streams run N and S off the Bailey and the Nose, and on both sides of Ireland's Eye, where 2 knots can be achieved. There can be very bumpy water anywhere on the seaward side, especially with wind over tide. In particular the Bailey, where the tidal stream coming out of Dublin Bay meets the main stream, can be quite nasty. The Nose at the NE side of the head is often very bumpy, easing as one approaches Howth Harbour. The N/NE flood runs from Dublin HW +0430 to -0130, and the ebb the reverse.
The main E coast flood enters Dublin Bay on its S side heading NE, and circles around the inner bay to exit eastwards along the S side of Howth Head. To complicate matters, the main ebb, except when flowing at its strongest, in the middle three hours, eddies around the N part of the bay. Therefore, an outgoing stream runs E along the S shore of the Head for nine hours out of the twelve, from Dublin HW +0300 to Dublin HW. The ingoing W stream flows for only the other three, from Dublin HW to Dublin HW +0300.
In the first hour or two of the flood, from Dublin HW -0600 to -0400, paddlers often find that the stream exiting Dublin Bay E is stronger than the main coastal flood N. Thus the stream at the Bailey is E, and sets up a huge circular eddy, for about 2km to the N.
Text reproduced from Oileáin by kind permission of the author, David Walsh. Text was extracted from Oileáin (online edition) on 4th May 2010.
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