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Enniscrone

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Overview

Enniscrone or Inishcrone is a beach resort in County Sligo, with a population in 2022 of 1300. The nearest town of any size is Ballina 14 km south.

Wikivoyage guide · 11 sections

▸Introduction147 chars

Enniscrone or Inishcrone is a beach resort in County Sligo, with a population in 2022 of 1300. The nearest town of any size is Ballina 14 km south.

▸Get in490 chars

Highway N59 follows the coast all the way from Sligo to Galway. It cuts inland to bypass Enniscrone, turn off onto R297.

Bus Éireann 458 runs every couple of hours daily from Enniskillen across the border in County Fermanagh to Sligo (for trains and buses from Dublin), then west along the coast to Enniscrone and Ballina in County Mayo. To Enniscrone from Ballina is 20 min and from Sligo is an hour. The village bus stop is on Main Street, corner with Church Lane, by the hardware store.

▸Get around54 chars

Walk. No local taxi, it would have to come from Sligo.

▸See1,134 chars

Cliff Baths next to Waterfront House Hotel are County Sligo's answer to Lisbon's Torre de Belém, a little white castle-cum-wedding cake perched on the beach, built in 1890. The building and baths within are long closed but you can get just as cold in the tide-filled pools outside.

Facts

Rank

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Coordinates

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage

Media

From Wikipedia672 words

Introduction

Seaside town in County Sligo, Ireland Town in Connacht, IrelandEnniscrone Inis CrabhannInishcroneTownBathing terrace at EnniscroneEnniscroneLocation in IrelandCoordinates: 54°12′47″N 9°05′36″W / 54.2130°N 9.0933°W / 54.2130; -9.0933CountryIrelandProvinceConnachtCountyCounty SligoPopulation (2022) • Total1,291Time zoneUTC+0 (WET) • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))Irish Grid ReferenceG286298 Enniscrone – also spelt Inniscrone and officially named Inishcrone (Irish: Inis Crabhann / Inis Eiscir Abhainn) – is a small seaside town in County Sligo, Ireland. Its sandy beach, tourist campsite, and golf course all attract visitors. As of the 2022 census, the town had a population of 1,291 people.

Name

[edit] The majority of the local population know this village as Enniscrone, though some local school teachers and historians use the official name of "Inishcrone". Sligo County Council has neglected the official version in favour of "Enniscrone" which appears on their website, and at least one local newspaper does not use the official name. Locally, the road signs are one of the few places "Inniscrone" can be seen.[citation needed] Up until the late 1970s the name "Enniscrone" was used by local teachers. It was taught as being a derivative of the Irish Inis Eascar Abhann, meaning "the island on the sandbank in the river".[citation needed] An entry in the Placenames Database of Ireland suggests that there is no evidence for this derivation, and notes that the name may derive from Eiscir Abhann, meaning "esker of the river".

More in sights0

O'Dowd's Castle at the east edge of the village is the shell of a 17th-century mansion. Nearby is the equally scrappy ruin of Valentine's Church. Both were ruined by the invasion of 1798.

A Boeing 767 sits south end of the village. In 2016 it was laboriously transported here from Shannon Airport, where it had been abandoned by the bankrupt Russian airline Transaero. It was supposed to form the centrepiece of an offbeat accommodation complex: old buses, railway carriages, why not a hovercraft or funicular cabin. The project flopped and the site is closed, but you see enough from the street.

1 Easky is a village 10 km northeast of Enniscrone on the coast road. The bus from Sligo comes this way. There are remains of another O'Dowd fortress, the turret of a 19th-century signal tower, and an abbey and graveyard. Easky has pubs and accommodation.

▸Do747 chars

Surfing here is relatively sedate and suitable for beginners.

Seaweed baths are available, see County Sligo#Do for a description.

Enniscrone Golf Club is southwest edge of the village. The Dunes championship course is 7033 yards par 73, Scurmore course is nine holes. Visitor day rates in 2025 are €235 April-Oct, less in winter.

Wild Atlantic Way is a coastal itinerary from Donegal to Kinsale in County Cork, 2500 km in all. The section from Sligo through Enniscrone to Ballina is self-evident.

Black Pig Festival is a week in late July. Various fun events and races, including racing on pigs, inspired by a legend of a giant pig chasing round the county until slain at Muckduff just south of the village. It was poisonous and couldn't be eaten.

▸Buy57 chars

Centra is the main store, open M-Sa 7AM-10PM, Su 8AM-9PM.

▸Eat311 chars

Surf's Up cafe is open daily 9AM-4PM.

Gilroy's Bar and Áit Eile Restaurant is open M-F 4-11:30PM, Sa noon-1AM, Su noon-11:30PM.

Pilot Bar does good seafood daily 1-11PM.

Spicy Affair serves Indian classics daily 5-11PM.

Waterfront Hotel (see Sleep) has a good restaurant open daily for dinner plus Sunday lunch.

▸Drink159 chars

McNulty's is on Main St. Hopkins is a trad pub open daily noon-midnight.

Wild Atlantic Inn is 1 km northeast of the village on R297, at the junction with R298.

▸Sleep691 chars

1 Diamond Coast Hotel, Main St, Enniscrone F26 E9F9, ☏ +353 96 26000. Comfy modern hotel on main street. B&B double €150. (updated Jun 2025)

Atlantic Caravan Park south end of the village nowadays only offers long-stay static caravans, no facilities for tourers, mobile homes or campers.

2 Ocean Sands Hotel, Main St, Enniscrone F26 Y3Y9, ☏ +353 96 26700, reservations@theoceansandshotel.ie. Good mid-range spa hotel. Dog-tolerant rather than friendly. B&B double €180. (updated Jun 2025)

3 Waterfront Hotel, Cliff Rd, Enniscrone F26 P9Y2, ☏ +353 96 37120. Smart comfy hotel with good restaurant. B&B double €170. (updated Jun 2025)

Ballina 15 km south has a better choice of accommodation.

▸Connect155 chars

As of June 2025, Enniscrone and its approach roads have 4G from Three and Vodafone, but only a poor scratchy signal from Eir. 5G has not reached this area.

▸Go next237 chars

Ballina is the gateway to County Mayo, wild and little-developed.

Sligo is WB Yeats country, the base for exploring prehistoric Carrowkeel and the mountains of Knocknarea and Benbulbin.

Strandhill near Sligo has bigger waves for surfing.

Geography

[edit] Enniscrone is in County Sligo on Ireland's Atlantic coast, overlooking Killala Bay, 12 km north of Ballina. The R297 regional road passes through the town. The area around Enniscrone includes the townlands of Muckduff, Lacken, Lacknaslevia, Frankford, Carrowhubbock North and Carrowhubbock South. Carrowhubbock South townland (from Irish Ceathrú Hobac, meaning 'Hobuck's Quarter') is approximately 2.3 square kilometres (0.9 sq mi) in area and spans much of the centre and north of the town. Residential development plans in this part of Enniscrone met community opposition in 2007.

History

[edit] Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort sites in the townlands of Muckduff, Frankford, and Carrowhubbock North and South. The ruins of a fortified house, known as Inishcrone Castle and built c.1650, lie just north of the town centre. The local Church of Ireland church was built c.1829, and a Roman Catholic church followed in 1892. The latter remained in use by the local Catholic congregation until a new church was built in 1965. The "cliff baths", built c. 1890 In A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, published by Samuel Lewis in 1837, Enniscrone is described as having "a coast-guard station [..and..] constabulary police station". This coast-guard station was destroyed in August 1920 following an IRA attack during the Irish War of Independence. There were no casualties in the attack, in which a small garrison of British Royal Marines were forced to surrender the building, arms and ammunition. Reflecting the town's development as a seaside resort, a number of bathhouses were built in the town in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Amenities

[edit] Amenities in the area include a number of shops, pubs, restaurants, holiday accommodation and a pitch and putt course. The local primary school is a co-educational Catholic national school, which had an enrollment of over 120 pupils as of 2020. The local Kilglass/Enniscrone Soccer Club play their home games at Michael McGowan Park. As of 2018, local man David McGowan had begun construction of a "glamping" village, with the main focus being the Boeing 767 he bought to convert into accommodation.

Beach

[edit] The beach at Enniscrone strand Enniscrone's public sandy beach stretches over a long area of shoreline, and is split near the lower part of the village by a small crossable river. Part of the beach is overseen by lifeguards in the summer period. The "Valley of Diamonds" is one of the hidden features along the beach, and is the largest of the "volcano-like" compositions among the long-grassed sand dunes. Sligo County Council fenced off the sand dunes as part of their "Dune Restoration Works Programme". Other county council restrictions include limiting road access to the beach, a measure taken to maintain Enniscrone's Blue Flag beach status.[citation needed]