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 articleCork 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.
Fountainstown is classified as achieving Good Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Fountainstown has achieved a Good Water Quality rating in 2025, and an Excellent Water Quality rating for 2022, 2023 and 2024. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 2026 | Excellent | 20 | 7 |
| 27 Jul 2026 | Excellent | 20 | 7 |
| 20 Jul 2026 | Excellent | 20 | 12 |
| 29 Jun 2026 | Excellent | 20 | 14 |
| 8 Jun 2026 | Excellent | 10 | 4 |
| 25 May 2026 | Excellent | 41 | 44 |
Fountainstown Beach is an east-facing, gently sloping, sandy/shingle beach. It is bounded to the north by a low rocky cliff, to the south by rocky outcrops and to the west by a concrete wall with the public road and car park adjoining the beach. Fountainstown Swamp which is a proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA 000371) is situated to the north of the beach. The beach is used to some extent by anglers and for windsurfing.
Managed by Cork County Council.
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