What's the story here?

Slade is a picturesque fishing village located 1½ miles northeast of Hook Head, on the east side of the Hook Peninsula and the west side of Bannow Bay. The small drying fishing quay is overlooked by a remarkably well-preserved castle that serves to make it highly conspicuous from seaward.

The small harbour is space constrained and dries entirely on springs, but good depths are available for a short-term visit, and vessels that can take to the hard can dry out inside. At high water springs 4.7 metres can be expected, or 3.2 metres at neaps. Deep-keeled vessels can make use of the tide to come alongside the outer harbour for a short stay. Alternatively, anchor in its small bay outside the harbour, which provides good holding in sandy patches.

How to get in?

Use southeastern Ireland’s coastal overview for Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour for seaward approaches. The prominent Hook Head lighthouse, upon Hook Point, provides a good seamark for the area.




Vessels working from within the bay between Baginbun Head and Slade should be careful to avoid Brecaun Bridge. It is a reef that extends ⅓ mile offshore, with a depth of 1.2 metres at its extremity. This lies approximately 1 mile northeast of the harbour, along the coastline; it is advisable for vessels working their way down along the coast to come out from the headland to avoid this area of danger.





From the initial fix proceed towards the harbour, which will be conspicuous from some distance owing to its highly distinctive castle. When making a final approach on Slade, keep the row of lobster store-box moorings to starboard, then turn directly in towards the southern end of the moorings to approach the pier head.




Vessels planning to enter Slade’s outer harbour should target their arrival between half flood and half ebb tide. The inner harbour is more congested and only suitable for very small boats. It requires significant ‘springing’ techniques to get in and out.




Those intending to anchor should find a location 100 metres northeast of the harbour entrance in good holding ground. The area immediately outside the harbour tends to be of hard rock and offers unreliable anchoring. Patches of sand that offer good holding can be found, however, and the key is to locate these in the translucent water and set the anchor into them. Land by the harbour wall or at the slipway.

Why visit here?

Slade or An Slaod in Irish, derives its name from the ancient Irish word Sladagh, or Sladach, meaning ‘glen’. The word in this sense is now obsolete, but in its time would narrowly apply to the village’s location at the foot of a small valley through which the Hook peninsula’s singular stream enters the sea.




The haven is uniquely striking due to its remarkable medieval castle, from which its quays extend like arms to embrace a snug little harbour. Slade Castle began life in the 15th century as a slender four-storey, 56ft (17m) high tower house, built by the Laffan family. They were of Anglo-Norman stock and received a grant of land as tenants to the Manor of Kilcloggan. The land estate was too small (about 86 hectares) to underpin such a substantial dwelling and they were thought to have derived their income from extensive maritime trade, augmented by fishing enterprises. The castle’s location was thus chosen for its seaward properties: it is the only natural landing point on the outer Hook peninsula, offering unhindered seaward access, protection from the prevalent southwesterlies and a sandy beach where boats can be brought ashore. The tower house was built on the south side of the inlet to make the best advantage of the harbour’s natural protection. Later 16th-century Laffans added the two-storey battlemented hall and enclosure, or bawn, now known as ‘the Square’.




The family thrived here for almost two centuries until the castle was forfeited in the aftermath of the Irish Confederate Wars. When Oliver Cromwell decisively defeated the Irish Catholics and Royalists in the 1650s, he redistributed the estates of the landowners that had turned rebel against his rule. This was despite the fact that the Laffan heir at the time was just a young boy, who could not possibly have been implicated in the war.

A maritime castle from the outset, Slade would have had a pier of some description when it was first constructed. The first records of a modern quay, most likely the still surviving Ould Quay, to the north of the inlet, dates back to 1684. This was built by Lord Henry Loftus, who later sold the area to William Mansell, to whom he was related by marriage. Mansell began significantly developing Slade, extending the castle to accommodate an extensive salt works, as well as improving the dwellings for the tenants and growing trees to shelter the harbour. He did not live in the castle, preferring instead to construct a large, comfortable dwelling house for his family. The castle was later converted into a tenement, divided into several apartments.

The New Quay, beneath the castle, was built in 1847 as part of a famine-relief scheme that brought about most of the changes to the village we see now. It created the harbour, as well as the approach road, with its retaining wall along the cliff-top leading past the back of the castle, as opposed to its south-facing front encountered today. The internal walls in the harbour were constructed in the early 20th century, and the Office of Public Works took over the castle in the 1940s, removing most of the tenement alterations.



The remarkable thing is how little Slade has changed since. Today the harbour is still dominated by the well-preserved tower house with its battlemented parquets. This makes it a uniquely pretty village with a distinct medieval feeling, and an excellent place to stop.




Slade is also close enough to Hook Lighthouse to make it on foot, and it is a walk well worth undertaking. It is the oldest lighthouse in Europe and the second-oldest running lighthouse in the world, built under grant from William Marshall in 1245. Visitors will also find a café, craft shop and picnic area.

From a boating point of view, it is a particularly good anchorage in fresh west winds, when the Tower Race off Hook Head may make passage off that headland more than a little uncomfortable. Likewise, vessels approaching the Waterford Estuary in a northwest wind, or if a tide wait is required, may find Slade a useful anchoring position. In fine weather it is a good start or finish destination for a scenic cruise around the legendary Hook Head peninsula.

What facilities are available?

There is little available at Slade Harbour save for the quay and slipway, plus a public house. The nearby Hook Lighthouse visitor centre has an excellent café.

Any security concerns?

There has never been an issue know to have occurred in Slade Harbour.

With thanks to:

Declan Hearne, Long term fisherman and retired area Coastguard leader. Photography with thanks to Michael Harpur.