Designated bathing area sought for Kilcullen

File photos: Kilcullen Diary.

Waterways Ireland and Kildare County Council have carried out a risk assessment on potential designated bathing areas in the Liffey at Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne. This follows requests from local swimming enthusiasts to have an official swimming location established.

The initiative is one of a list of project ambitions produced by Kilcullen Community Action earlier this year. Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer, who says it is 'a worthy project worth pursuing', has previously walked the Liffey area with representatives from the Kildare Sports Partnership, "to start the discussion about various locations."

Following the recent assessment visit by Waterways Ireland and KCC, the next phase in this project is an environmental impact analysis, followed by a water quality analysis to ensure there is good water quality if people are going to swim. At that point, a detailed design would be done and costings assessed.

The matter has come into sharp focus with the current and earlier heatwave spells, with scores of mainly young people cooling off at what were traditional swimming places in the river, but which are now fenced off from public access. 

KCA's Tony Gahan, a keen swimmer, is leading the call for Designated Bathing, suggesting that a pontoon structure that would rise and fall with the flood could be located on the Riverside Manor bank side of the river. The location had a temporary wooden dock for many years while the new Kilcullen Canoe Club premises were being constructed as part of the Market Square development in the late 2000s. It fell into disrepair when it was no longer needed by the club and was dismantled for safety reasons several years ago.

A request that KCC designate a generationally popular swimming spot at Carnalway, made by Cllr O'Dwyer last year, didn't succeed. Identified bathing waters are monitored, managed, and assessed under the requirements of the 2008 Bathing Water Quality Regulations. The regulations followed the transposition of the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) into Irish law in 2008, aimed at enhancing the protection of bathers' health and introducing stricter standards for water quality. Local authorities are required under the legislation to identify such locations.

In 2024, KCC sought public assistance in identifying such locations so a profile of each could be developed, including an assessment of the risk of pollution and what action would be taken if pollution occurs. Among details requested from the public were how swimming areas have been used up to now, how many people use the site, what facilities (eg, signage, parking, toilets, etc.) exist at the site, how accessible it is, and what safety issues exist. 

To our knowledge, there are as yet no Designated Bathing Waters in County Kildare.

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