Rosslare Strand, or simply Rosslare ( or 'middle wood'), is a village and

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The name Rosslare Strand is used to distinguish it from the nearby community of

Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour (), also known as Ballygeary, grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Rai ...

, site of the

Rosslare Europort Rosslare Europort ( ga, Europort Ros Láir) is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland. The port is the premier Irish port serving the European Contine ...

Tourism

Rosslare has been a tourist resort for at least 100 years. It is noted as the "sunniest spot in Ireland", and records bear this out: Rosslare has consistently more sunshine hours that any other part of Ireland. The long sandy strand is a

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-gov ...

. The beach itself consists of sand and stone running the length of the southern peninsula which protrudes into Wexford Harbour. It is segmented by a series of timber breakwaters which are designed to retain sandy deposits along the beach. Groyne on Rosslare beach - geograph

There are a number of

golf courses A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

in the vicinity. Rosslare also has several hotels, cafes and restaurants. As of the 1996 census, the village had a population of 929 people, increasing to 1,620 by the time of the 2016 census. According to the April 2016 census, of the 551 occupied private households in the village, 228 were built between 2001 and 2010. During the early 21st century, the village saw an amount of building, including of a number of holiday homes. There are a number of housing estates of holiday homes near the strand, and the population reportedly grows from "about 1,500 to 17,000" during the summer months. A long sandspit stretching north from Rosslare separates

Wexford Harbour Wexford Harbour ( gle, Loch Garman) in County Wexford, Ireland is the natural harbour at the mouth of the River Slaney. In earlier times, the area occupied by the harbour was considerably larger than it is today, up to ten miles (16 km) wi ...

from the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. Until the early 1920s, this spit stretched for many miles north, almost touching the Raven Point and giving a very narrow mouth to Wexford Harbour. At the end of the spit was a small fort called Rosslare Fort. In the winter of 1924-25 a storm breached the spit and it was gradually washed away. The fort was abandoned and now all that is left is an island at low tide.

Climate

Rosslare is commonly known in Ireland as being in the "Sunny South-East", and in 1959 Rosslare recorded 1,996.4 hours of sunshine, the highest recorded in Ireland. However, it is not the warmest or driest place in Ireland. Met Éireann operated a weather station at Rosslare until its closure in 2007. Sunshine duration for the county is now recorded at the

Johnstown Castle Johnstown Castle is a Gothic Revival castle located in County Wexford, Ireland. Location Johnstown Castle is located on the Johnstown Castle Estate, a estate, located off the road between Murntown and Rathaspeck, southwest of Wexford town. ...

weather station, which has been operational since 2009. However, due to its inland location, Johnstown Castle receives considerably less sunshine than Rosslare.

Transport

Rail transport

Rosslare is served by

Rosslare Strand railway station Rosslare Strand railway station ( ga, Stáisiún Thrá Ros Láir) is in Rosslare Strand, County Wexford, Ireland. It is the junction of the Dublin–Rosslare railway line and the Limerick–Rosslare railway line, the Rosslare Strand to Waterf ...

, which opened on 24 June 1882. The Dublin to Rosslare Europort railway serves the village.

Bus transport

Two main local bus services operate; 'Wexford Bus' and 'Local Link'. The village is also served by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

routes 370 and 385. The 370 links it to

Wellingtonbridge Wellingtonbridge (), also spelled Wellington Bridge, is a village in south County Wexford, Ireland. It lies some 24 km west of Wexford and 28 km east of Waterford, at the intersection of the R733 and R736 regional roads. It was his ...

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...

and

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

(this bus route replaces the train service to

which ceased in September 2010).

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns and villages in County Wexford Beaches of County Wexford