The Forty Foot, a historic bathing pool on a promontory on the southern tip of Dublin Bay, is a short walk from the James Joyce Tower. It used to be a male only swimming spot but today both men and women enjoy a swim here. The character of Buck Mulligan in James Joyce’s Ulysses takes a dip in the Forty Foot. People have been swimming here for the past 250 years.

Take the DART to Sandycove/Glasthule station and walk from Scotsman’s Bay to Sandycove Harbour, continue up the hill and you will find the 40 Foot bathing place.

Hardy Dubliners come here all year round to swim in the Irish sea. The concrete wind shelters of the 40 Foot are perched on an impressive rock outcrop reaching into the bay and concrete steps lead you right into the crashing waves of the Irish Sea. 

Map of Sandycove Beach and Forty Foot Bathing Area (pdf -1,192kb)