Rosslare Strand

Rosslare
Irish: Ros Láir
Village
Rosslare's beach is accessible directly from Rosslare village
Rosslare's beach is accessible directly from Rosslare village
Rosslare is located in Ireland
Rosslare
Rosslare
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°16′23″N 6°23′12″W / 52.27306°N 6.38667°W / 52.27306; -6.38667
CountryIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyCounty Wexford
Population
 (2022)[1]
1,795

Rosslare Strand, or simply Rosslare (Irish: Ros Láir, meaning 'middle promontory' or 'middle wood'),[2] is a village and seaside resort in County Wexford, Ireland. The name Rosslare Strand is used to distinguish it from the nearby community of Rosslare Harbour, site of the Rosslare Europort.[3]

Tourism

Rosslare has been a tourist resort for at least 100 years.[4] 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.[5][6] The long sandy strand is a Blue Flag beach.[7] 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.[7]

Groyne on Rosslare beach

There are a number of golf courses in the vicinity.[8] Rosslare also has several hotels, cafes and restaurants.[9]

At the time of the 1996 census, the village had a population of 929 people,[10] increasing to 1,795 by the time of the 2022 census.[1] According to the April 2016 census, of the 551 occupied private households in the village, 228 were built between 2001 and 2010.[11] During the early 21st century, the village saw an amount of building, including of a number of holiday homes.[12] 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.[3]

A long sandspit stretching north from Rosslare separates Wexford Harbour from the Irish Sea. 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.[13] 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.[14]

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

Climate data for Rosslare, County Wexford, elevation 26m, (1978–2007, extremes 1956–2007)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.1
(57.4) 		14.1
(57.4) 		15.8
(60.4) 		20.1
(68.2) 		22.3
(72.1) 		25.5
(77.9) 		26.2
(79.2) 		25.9
(78.6) 		22.0
(71.6) 		21.5
(70.7) 		17.2
(63.0) 		15.6
(60.1) 		26.2
(79.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 8.8
(47.8) 		8.5
(47.3) 		9.9
(49.8) 		11.3
(52.3) 		13.6
(56.5) 		16.3
(61.3) 		18.3
(64.9) 		18.5
(65.3) 		16.8
(62.2) 		14.0
(57.2) 		11.3
(52.3) 		9.5
(49.1) 		13.1
(55.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.5
(43.7) 		6.3
(43.3) 		7.5
(45.5) 		8.8
(47.8) 		11.1
(52.0) 		13.6
(56.5) 		15.5
(59.9) 		15.7
(60.3) 		14.2
(57.6) 		11.6
(52.9) 		9.0
(48.2) 		7.4
(45.3) 		10.6
(51.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 4.2
(39.6) 		4.1
(39.4) 		5.1
(41.2) 		6.3
(43.3) 		8.6
(47.5) 		11.0
(51.8) 		12.7
(54.9) 		12.9
(55.2) 		11.6
(52.9) 		9.3
(48.7) 		6.7
(44.1) 		5.2
(41.4) 		8.1
(46.6)
Record low °C (°F) −5.1
(22.8) 		−4.1
(24.6) 		−2.7
(27.1) 		−1.0
(30.2) 		−0.3
(31.5) 		4.7
(40.5) 		5.2
(41.4) 		6.1
(43.0) 		2.6
(36.7) 		0.7
(33.3) 		−2.5
(27.5) 		−3.1
(26.4) 		−5.1
(22.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 88.4
(3.48) 		70.8
(2.79) 		69.1
(2.72) 		59.1
(2.33) 		55.7
(2.19) 		54.9
(2.16) 		49.9
(1.96) 		71.6
(2.82) 		75.0
(2.95) 		109.3
(4.30) 		100.9
(3.97) 		100.8
(3.97) 		905.5
(35.65)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 17 15 16 13 13 12 12 13 13 17 17 17 175
Average snowy days 1.7 2.3 1.0 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 6.2
Average relative humidity (%) 80.8 79.0 77.8 76.1 77.2 77.7 77.2 76.9 77.1 78.7 80.2 82.2 78.4
Mean monthly sunshine hours 60.3 75.7 114.1 173.9 214.9 189.9 199.5 191.1 146.1 105.5 73.3 55.2 1,599.5
Source 1: Met Éireann[16][17][18]
Source 2: European Climate Assessment & Dataset,[19]

Transport

Rosslare Strand station in 2007

Rail transport

Rosslare is served by Rosslare Strand railway station, which opened on 24 June 1882.[20] The Dublin to Rosslare Europort railway serves the village.[21]

Bus transport

Two main local bus services operate; 'Wexford Bus'[22] and 'Local Link'.[23]

The village is also served by Bus Éireann routes 370 and 385. The 370 links it to Wellingtonbridge, New Ross and Waterford[24] (this bus route replaces the train service to Waterford which ceased in September 2010).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Census 2022 - F1015 Population". Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. August 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Ros Láir/Rosslare (see archive records)". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b Gallagher, Alanna. "Renting, buying and holidaying in 'the real Rosslare'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  4. ^ "rosslarestrand | Rosslare In History". rosslarestrand. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Rosslare is consistently the sunniest spot in the country". 18 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Sunshine - Met Éireann - the Irish Meteorological Service".
  7. ^ a b "Rosslare Strand Blue Flag Beach 2019 | Attractions | Beaches | All Ireland | Republic of Ireland | Wexford | Rosslare | Discover Ireland". www.discoverireland.ie. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Rosslare Golf Club | Activities | Golf | Golf Courses | Links | All Ireland | Republic of Ireland | Wexford | Rosslare | Discover Ireland". www.discoverireland.ie. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Multiple Award Winning Restaurant Wexford". www.wildandnative.ie. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Rosslare (Ireland) Census Town". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Sapmap Area - Settlements - Rosslare". Census 2016. Central Statistics Office. April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Council's planning decisions causing some concern on Rosslare Strand". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Wexford Development Plan". Wexfordcoco.ie. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Rosslare Fort rises again". WexfordPeople.ie. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Forest Management In The Irish Climate Contd". Piffs.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Rosslare 1981–2010 averages". Met Éireann. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Absolute Maximum Air Temperatures for each Month at Selected Stations" (PDF). Met Éireann. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Absolute Minimum Air Temperatures for each Month at Selected Stations" (PDF). Met Éireann. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  19. ^ "Climatological Information for Rosslare, Ireland". European Climate Assessment & Dataset.
  20. ^ "Rosslare Strand" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  21. ^ "Dublin Rosslare Fares". Archived from the original on 27 May 2014.
  22. ^ "Wexford Bus - Timetable". bookings.wexfordbus.com. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  23. ^ "387 timetable - Local Link Wexford". Archived from the original on 11 July 2018.
  24. ^ "Bus Éireann - View Ireland Bus and Coach Timetables & Buy Tickets" (PDF). www.buseireann.ie. Archived from the original on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  • Media related to Rosslare at Wikimedia Commons
  • Rosslare travel guide from Wikivoyage