Beach information, bathing-water quality, coastal conditions, environmental monitoring and practical updates for communities and visitors around Ireland.
Ireland continues to have overwhelmingly high bathing-water standards, with 98 per cent of officially designated sites meeting the required standard in the latest national…
Read articleDonegal County Council
EPA alert data last synced 24 Aug 2026, 03:20.
Current restrictions and beach signage take priority over annual classifications and individual sample results. Conditions can change between samples.
Ballyhiernan, Fanad is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Ballyhiernan, Fanad has achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for the four consecutive years 2022 to 2025. Annual water quality ratings are generally calculated using monitoring results over a four-year period and are assessed against stringent bacterial limits to protect bather health.
| Date | Sample status | E. coli | Intestinal enterococci |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 2026 | Excellent | <10 | <1 |
| 14 Jul 2026 | Excellent | <10 | <1 |
| 23 Jun 2026 | Excellent | <10 | <1 |
| 2 Jun 2026 | Excellent | 20 | 1 |
| 26 May 2026 | Excellent | 10 | <1 |
Ballyhiernan beach is a north facing, long sandy beach consisting of sandy dunes. There are three bays on the beach Carrickachurdin Bay, Kinlackagh Bay and Trabane Bay. Ballyhiernan Beach has a wide variety of wildlife including a vast variety of birds and two notable animal species have been spotted on the site, the Common Frog and Irish Hare. Activities include swimming, kayaking, boating, surfing, windsurfing, sailing, power boating, jet skiing, diving and other land based activities on the beach.
Managed by Donegal County Council.
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