Quoile is located on the northeast coast of Ireland within Strangford Lough’s southwestern corner and at the head of the Quoile River estuary. It offers a very good river anchorage with the option of picking up well-maintained moorings or coming alongside the Quoile Yacht club pontoon in a highly attractive location.

Inside the Quoile River, akin to many of the islands and snug creeks on the western shore, a vessel will find complete protection. Quoile offers good protection for conditions from west to northwest. The Lough's enclosed body of water provides sheltered sailing in all weather, all tides and ample marks to make daylight navigation straightforward.

Keyfacts for Quoile

Position and approaches

Haven position

54° 22.233' N, 005° 40.318' W

In the middle of the anchorage between Castle and Gibbs islands.

What are the initial fixes?

The following waypoints will set up a final approach:

(i) Quoile River Initial Fix

54° 23.614' N, 005° 38.195' W

300 metres east of Town Rock off Killyleagh. This is a distinctive red cylindrical brick pillar marker lit with a sectored light, Fl(2)WRG.5s6M, leading between Barrel and Skate rocks.

(ii) Killyleagh Initial Fix

54° 23.573' N, 005° 37.537' W

Between Barrel and Skate Rocks that are marked by perches. It is set upon the useful transit marked on the Admiralty chart keeping Portaferry pier open upon Chapel Island.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

The Quoile River takes a southwest direction from Killyleagh toward Downpatrick which it historically serviced. This was until the tidal barrier was established at Hare Island in 1956 adjacent to the position of the Quoile Yacht Club to prevent flooding. For its 2-mile course to the tidal barrier, where navigation ceases, the River Quoile has good depths and good anchorages particularly so on the final approaches to the club. At its head is Quoile Yacht Club which is located on Castle Island, to the south of Gibb's Island and immediately below the tidal barrier.




The Club provides visitors with the warmest of welcomes. Their three yellow visitor moorings are checked annually and are located on the final approaches between Gibb's and Castle Island. These are available by a donation of £15 [2022] per night. The club's 50-metre-long pontoon lies behind Castle Island, is accessible at all states of the tide and has 3 metres LAT. It is also available by arrangement with the club and visitors will be asked to make a payment of £25 [2022] per night to berth alongside.




The pontoon can be very busy at weekends but space can usually be found during weekdays. Please give preference to Quoile Yacht Club members. Boats on the pontoon cannot be left unattended overnight. Contact the club by info@quoileyc.com, Club Web Form or +44 (0)28 4461 2266.




Although Quoile affords complete protection, there may be a little chop with very strong northeasterly gales, which at most would give a bumpy night. Likewise, if it is blowing hard, the club might ask a vessel to move to a mooring to take the pressure off.

How to get in?

Details of the approaches, tidal timings, the run up The Narrows and onward to Killyleagh, on the Lough's western shore, are covered in the Entering and exiting Strangford Lough route description.




This is situated 400 metres east of Killyleagh's Town Rock beacon and is an equal distance, of a ½ mile, from both Barrel and Skate rocks. Town Rock is a highly distinctive red brick pillar marker, that looks not unlike the Rook chess piece. At night it is lit with a sectored light, Fl(2)WRG.5s6M, with the white light sector leading between Barrel and Skate rocks.




The most dangerous for a vessel entering/exiting the Lough is the Skate Rock which is very much in the way of a direct path from the Narrows to Killyleagh and the Quoile River entrance. It uncovers at four hours ebb and normally has a pole. The racing Mark K is also normally moored close south of it.




Barrel Rock uncovers at low water and normally has a perch. The racing Mark 4 buoy is also moored close to its north side. A useful transit to pass between the Barrel and Skate rocks is to keep Portaferry pier open upon Chapel Island astern.





From the Quoile River Initial Fix the path takes a west-southwest direction on a bearing of 210° T for a distance of approximately 1 mile. This leads through the middle of the river estuary passing Green Island to port.




Stand off the shoreline when approaching Green Island as Bradly Rock, normally marked by a pole, lies a ¼ of a mile directly south of the pontoon head 200 metres out from the shore near Nickey's Point.



By this point, Salt Island will become readily apparent a ½ mile southwest of Green Island with Moore’s Point on the opposite north shore. Steer to pass midway Salt Island with Moore’s Point.




When approaching Salt Island look upriver for the highly distinctive Gibbs Island that stands close off the north shore and opposite Castle Island. It is one of the few islands within the Lough to have trees with its’ collection of mature Scot’s Pine, resembling a sprig of broccoli.




Steer for the centre of the trees passing north to the tiny low-lying Rat Island that lies between Gores Island and Salt Island on the southeast side of the river.




Then turn to pass close to the north point of Gore’s Island picking up the Toad Stone perch off the north side of the river. This is the first mark to pick up and it stands opposite Gores Island's northmost point and a speed marker buoy close offshore.

Toad Stone perch - position: 54° 22.460’N, 005° 40.030’W




Leave the starboard Toad Stone perch, which has deep water up to the mark, to the north (starboard) and pass between it and the speed buoy laying off Gore’s Island.




The next iron beacon, The Scotsman, is situated about a ¼ of a mile southwest of the Toad Stone perch, and it is also left to the north (passed to starboard). The Scotsman with a crow's nest type structure on top marks the southern end of the Scotsman Pladdy and it should be given a wide berth.




It is possible to anchor anywhere in this area or to the south of The Scotsman. Or to proceed westwards between Gibbs Island and Castle island to the club pontoon.




A pole marks the shallows off of Castle Island which must be passed on its north side (to port) between it and Gibbs Island.




It is possible to anchor anywhere in the approaches clear of local moorings. But the historic anchorage has decades of moorings on the bottom upon which to foul. It is therefore advisable to use a tripping line and only anchor at the perimeter of the mooring area between Castle and Gibbs islands.




The three yellow visitor moorings can be freely picked up and a distinctive tree in the middle of Castle Island is a good mark for the location of the middle of the moorings.




Alternatively, berth alongside the Quoile Yacht Club pontoon situated on Castle Island to port, and in through the moorings. There is a marked channel leading into the pontoon that lies between a small buoy with an east topmark on the port side marking the shallows extending from the east side. On the opposite side is a small Pladdy that steps out from the western shore situated about 30 metres northwest from the end of the pontoon.




This Pladdy is the primary concern as it has a rocky head. It is marked by a tall pole and a short one about a metre outside. Pass through the moorings, and then between the east cardinal topmark buoy and the Pladdy marked by the perch to the pontoon.




Berth as directed by the club alongside the pontoon.

Why visit here?

Quoile takes its name from the Irish 'an caol', meaning 'the narrow'. This refers to the river's narrow routes cutting between islands as it descends from Ballynahinch, some ten miles away, and meanders south before looping up northwards through Downpatrick and flowing into the Lough.

Central to the river has been Downpatrick which is one of Ireland's most ancient and historic towns and a natural meeting place both geographically and socially down through the centuries. The Lecale area, its name derived from 'Leath Chathail', 'the territory of Cathal' an 8th-century prince, and before the drainage schemes of the 18th century, it was a virtual island. Then the tidal waters advancing along the Quoile from the Lough and along the estuary of the River Blackstaff from Dundrum Bay cut it off each day from the mainland of County Down. The town itself is sited on three of the drumlins that once rose from damp meadows and marshes fringing the Quoile to the north and west; to the east and south.

The town's history reaches back to the early Bronze Age. Two roundhouses were excavated on the current Meadowlands Housing Estate, one measured over 4 metres in diameter and contained a hearth in the centre and the other roundhouse was over seven metres across. There is also archaeological evidence of a Neolithic undefended settlement on Cathedral Hill on the southwest side of the hilltop that dominates the town today.

The first part of the town's name would come from a later fort, 'dún' in Irish that was later anglicised to 'down', which once stood on the hill. Ptolemy, about the year AD 130, includes it (in Latin) as 'Dunum' in his list of towns in Ireland. References of an attack on 'Dun Lethglaise' were recorded for the year A.D. 496 (or 498) that refer to a take-over of the site, possibly by the Dal Fiatach. The name 'Dun Lethglaise', then 'Dún Dá Lethglas', in turn gave way, in the 13th century, to the present name of 'Dún Phádraig' from its long association with the national saint who commenced his mission to bring Christianity to Ireland from the immediate surrounds.




St Patrick's burial at Downpatrick is described in the Annals of the Four Masters following his death nearby at Saul in A.D. 493, but there is no indication that an early monastery was established to commemorate his name and mission. Down Cathedral was later constructed on this spot where he was believed to have been buried. The first mention of a Downpatrick abbot is in A.D. 780. Alas after this, the abbots are recorded at frequent intervals on account of their deaths and the destruction of the monastery by Viking raiders in A.D. 825, 942 and 989.

Downpatrick grew from two separate islets which would have been virtually islands, connected to nearby land by a narrow causeway. The earlier centre was that on Cathedral Hill, which became the focus of a flourishing community during the second half of the first millennium A.D., its monastery occupying an enclosed site upon it. Outside of this enclosure was another secular settlement, extending down the slope on its eastern side towards and possibly along the low ridge connecting the hill with the land now occupied by The Mall and upper English Street. This was the exit from the hill by dry land, towards the Lecale Peninsula, to which its economic development is intimately as well as the neighbouring monastery of Saul.

This open ecclesiastical town was the first objective that was easily taken by the Norman Knight John de Courcy early in 1177. In 1183, he brought in some Benedictines from the abbey of St. Werburgh in Chester (today Chester Cathedral) in England and built a cathedral friary for them at Downpatrick. The town was never the administrative centre for the earldom as that role was assumed by Carrickfergus that was more centrally located within the then political territory. Downpatrick, however, was well situated to act as a strategic bridgehead in the early years of the Anglo-Norman colony in Ulster. The Lecale peninsula was well protected by its encircling tidal estuaries and marshlands, and its many inlets and creeks provided natural harbours, ensuring good communication by sea with Dublin and its extended hinterland.





Although Ardglass, was the Lecale's main port, customs were still being levied at the port of Downpatrick in 1375 which had by then become the Lecale's urban centre and the administrative head of the area. Much of this trade was with northwestern England, where Downpatrick's main religious houses already had close ties with Chester, Barrow-in-Furness and Carlisle. But political instability from the mid-14th century inhibited the Lecale and Downpatrick could not escape the raids and open warfare that accompanied the decline of the political authority of the earldom of Ulster. The century after 1550 also treated it harshly, with the burning (and failure to rebuild) of the cathedral and the dissolution of other monasteries.




The condition of the town was greatly improved in the 18th century by a land-owning family named Southwell. In 1745, in an effort to reduce the flooding and reclaim land from the sea, Edward Southwell erected the first tidal barrage across the Quoile River at a site near the bridge on the old Belfast Road. Marshes were drained and ground that was once swamped by seawater was turned into fertile agricultural ground. Quoile Quay was developed, about a mile downriver of Downpatrick, where navigation then ceased, and it was transformed into a busy port, with sailing ships and steamers carrying timber, coal and slates to Downpatrick.




The invention of steamships in the early 1800s somewhat removed the challenges of the unreliability of wind and tide bringing future enthusiasm for the port. In 1836 The County Down and Liverpool Steam-Packet Company was established to carry passengers and goods across the Irish Sea. The venture was a success and another quay, appropriately Steamboat Quay, was built in the 1850s about 160 metres downstream of the old quay, to assist the operations of the ferry and a new steamship was commissioned, the Victoria.




During the latter half of the 19th-century timber was landed from sailing schooners arriving from Baltic and Canadian ports here. The Downpatrick Timber, Slate and Coal Company imported building materials (mainly slate) from North Wales from its formation in 1895 until 1920. But the port was not a large success and was plagued with problems after it was opened. The principal problem that would weigh on the port was that The Narrows remained notoriously difficult to navigate and larger vessels were required to wait for high tide to pass beyond Hare Island as the river nearly dried from there on at low water.




But all this came to an end in 1957 when Quoile Quay and Steamboat Quay were closed off to sea traffic by a barrage that was constructed at Hare Island adjacent to the clubhouse. This was built to stop the frequent flooding of Downpatrick. It would be the final solution in a long line of inadequate attempts to control the tide and its effects on the lower sections of the town. The permanence of the new barrier meant that countless centuries of Downpatrick's seaborne trade ended forever. The section behind the man-made barrier of the River Quoile became a 'pondage' where the river’s saltwater and seashore were changed to freshwater and wetland.




All of this can be explored today by the pleasant riverside walk into Downpatrick, locally 'Duno'. As soon after the barrier was built, plants and trees flourished along the former seashore making it an ideal habitat for a wide range of wildlife. It is now the Quoile Pondage National Nature Reserve which is a haven for wildfowl. The walks have views over the surrounding landscape of rounded hills and marshes it includes the Quoile Countryside Centre with displays on the wildlife and history of the area. Many of these features of historical interest are within the reserve itself, including Quoile Quay which is situated close to the Centre just beside Quoile Castle. This is a 16th-century Tower house that was inhabited into the 18th century. Another notable building of historical interest is Inch Abbey located 1.2 km northwest of Downpatrick on the north bank of the river. The abbey was originally situated on an island in what was then the Quoile Marshes and dates back to the year 800 AD. In 1002 a Viking fleet came up the Quoile and plundered the abbey. The settlement was subsequently plundered again in 1149.




From a boating perspective, this is a quiet and secure anchorage/moorings/pontoon in a highly picturesque part of Strangford Lough. Quoile is a must-visit location in cruising terms as it has it all. Immediately ashore are a number of beautiful nature walks, that include bird hides on the freshwater side, so there is a diversity of wildlife and Downpatrick. All this comes with an outstanding welcome from the sailing club and the facilities of their well-appointed clubhouse, docks and pontoon. It is also worth noting that on most Saturday nights there is a 'bring your own' party.

What facilities are available?

The pontoon has water and mains electrical points. Quoile Yacht Club has a beautiful, modern clubhouse and bar area that is complemented by a shower block for use by members and visitors alike. It also has a pay washing machine, tumble dryer and payphone that are all available to visitors. Outside there is a covered BBQ area overlooking the moorings and a picnic area. The club bar opens Saturday from 1700-2300, Sunday from 1500-1700, Wed after evening racing. Diesel is available from the pier head by arrangement.

There are two slipways and a quay that can be used for drying out alongside and scrubbing, plus a winch that can handle vessels up to 40 foot. The nearest shops are in Downpatrick a distance of five miles that would probably require a taxi. This is a sizeable town that serves as a commercial and administrative centre for the locality.

Any security concerns?

Never a problem known to have occurred at Quoile.

With thanks to:

Brian Crawford, local Strangford Lough boatman of many decades. eOceanic would like to thank Quoile Yacht Club for hosting our survey boat during the survey of Strangford Lough.