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Lumsdin’s Bay is located on the southeast coast of Ireland, upon the eastern shores of the entrance to Waterford Harbour and 2 miles north of Hook Head lighthouse. It is a secluded and picturesque anchorage with good holding.

Lumsdin’s Bay is located on the southeast coast of Ireland, upon the eastern shores of the entrance to Waterford Harbour and 2 miles north of Hook Head lighthouse. It is a secluded and picturesque anchorage with good holding.

Lumsdin’s Bay is an exposed anchorage in settled conditions, which would be used only as a day-anchorage, lunchtime stop or tide-wait location. It is not serviceable in any strong westerly component conditions, but is excellent in anything easterly or settled conditions. The wide, unhindered and well-marked Waterford Harbour estuary provides safe access night or day, and at any stage of the tide.



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Keyfacts for Lumsdin's Bay
Facilities
Pleasant family beach in the area


Nature
No fees for anchoring or berthing in this locationRemote or quiet secluded locationAnchoring locationBeach or shoreline landing from a tenderScenic location or scenic location in the immediate vicinity

Considerations
Note: strong tides or currents in the area that require consideration

Protected sectors

Current wind over the protected quadrants
Minimum depth
3 metres (9.84 feet).

Approaches
4 stars: Straightforward; when unaffected by weather from difficult quadrants or tidal consideration, no overly complex dangers.
Shelter
2 stars: Exposed; unattended vessels should be watched from the shore and a comfortable overnight stay is unlikely.



Last modified
April 5th 2022

Summary

An exposed location with straightforward access.

Facilities
Pleasant family beach in the area


Nature
No fees for anchoring or berthing in this locationRemote or quiet secluded locationAnchoring locationBeach or shoreline landing from a tenderScenic location or scenic location in the immediate vicinity

Considerations
Note: strong tides or currents in the area that require consideration



HM  +353 51 301400      +353 87 2598297       Ch.14/10/13 [Waterford Port]
Position and approaches
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Haven position

52° 9.500' N, 006° 54.250' W

Off the beach in the middle of the anchoring area on the 3-metre contour

What is the initial fix?

The following Lumsdin’s Bay initial fix will set up a final approach:
52° 9.670' N, 006° 55.683' W
This waypoint is 1,000 metres northwest of the shoreline.


What are the key points of the approach?

Offshore details are available in southeastern Ireland’s coastal overview for Rosslare Harbour to Cork Harbour Route location. Seaward approaches and the run up the harbour are covered in the Port of Waterford Click to view haven entry.


Not what you need?
Click the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons to progress through neighbouring havens in a coastal 'clockwise' or 'anti-clockwise' sequence. Below are the ten nearest havens to Lumsdin's Bay for your convenience.
Ten nearest havens by straight line charted distance and bearing:
  1. Templetown Bay - 1.2 nautical miles N
  2. Slade - 1.4 nautical miles S
  3. Dollar Bay - 2.2 nautical miles N
  4. Creadan Head - 2.3 nautical miles NW
  5. Baginbun Bay - 3.1 nautical miles ENE
  6. Dunmore East - 3.2 nautical miles W
  7. Fethard On Sea - 3.7 nautical miles NE
  8. Duncannon - 4 nautical miles NNW
  9. Bannow Bay - 4.6 nautical miles NE
  10. Arthurstown - 5.2 nautical miles NNW
These havens are ordered by straight line charted distance and bearing, and can be reordered by compass direction or coastal sequence:
  1. Templetown Bay - 1.2 miles N
  2. Slade - 1.4 miles S
  3. Dollar Bay - 2.2 miles N
  4. Creadan Head - 2.3 miles NW
  5. Baginbun Bay - 3.1 miles ENE
  6. Dunmore East - 3.2 miles W
  7. Fethard On Sea - 3.7 miles NE
  8. Duncannon - 4 miles NNW
  9. Bannow Bay - 4.6 miles NE
  10. Arthurstown - 5.2 miles NNW
To find locations with the specific attributes you need try:

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Chart
Please use our integrated Navionics chart to appraise the haven and its approaches. Navionics charts feature in premier plotters from B&G, Raymarine, Magellan and are also available on tablets. Open the chart in a larger viewing area by clicking the expand to 'new tab' or the 'full screen' option.

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What's the story here?
Lumsdin’s Bay
Image: Michael Harpur


Lumsdin’s Bay is situated within the entrance to Waterford Harbour, on the eastern shore of the Hook Head peninsula and about 1½ miles northeastward of Hook Head. It is a secluded bay in an isolated location, where a road leads down to the beach facilitating boat launches.


Local boat on Lumsdin’s Beach
Image: Michael Harpur


The bay has limited protection save from easterly conditions. With a 1.7-metre plateau lying 150 metres off the beach, however, it is a serviceable temporary tide-wait anchorage, with a nice beach ashore.


How to get in?
Lumsdin’s Bay, on the eastern shore of the Hook Penninsula
Image: Michael Harpur



Convergance Point Use the Port of Waterford Click to view haven for details of seaward approaches, entry to Waterford Harbour and the run up the estuary.

Initial fix location From the initial fix, set in the middle of the entrance, head northeast for the ‘Waterford’ port marker buoy and then pick up the No.1 and 2 buoys of the fairway. Alternatively, and particularly so for eastward approaching vessels, it is possible to freely round Hook Head and follow the peninsula’s western shoreline up to the bay. There is plenty of water and no off-lying dangers 300 metres from this coastline. Loftus Hall, a sizable headland estate ½ mile south of the anchorage, provides an excellent coastal mark for the approach to the bay.


Loftus Hall provides a good mark for the proximity of the bay
Image: Burke Corbett


Lumsdin’s Bay is best approached bearing southeast. On closer approaches the bay is readily identified by the ruins of a house that overlooks the beach. Likewise, a large sea wall will be seen on the south side of the beach. It protects the farm and houses above, as well as providing a rough track that allows public access to the main Hook Road.


Lumsdin’s Bay as seen from a northwesterly approach
Image: Michael Harpur


Haven location Tuck in as far as draught permits to get the best southerly protection. Land on the beach by tender, taking care to avoid the rocky reefs at either end of the small inlet.


Why visit here?
Lumsdin’s Bay, otherwise referred to as Boyce’s Bay, is a beautiful golden-sand cove with wonderful rock pools. It is a great location to land a family and let them loose to play and swim. It also offers an excellent anchoring location to wait out a tide in the mouth of the estuary. The truly unique opportunity it provides, though, is walking access to the historic Loftus Hall.


Loftus Hall as seen above the beach
Image: Michael Harpur


Loftus Hall is the large mansion house seen ½ mile to the south and a short walk along the road. The original house, Redmond Hall, was built by Norman family the Redmonds. It was constructed in about 1350 to replace their original castle at the adjacent Houseland, near Portersgate. Subsequent Cromwellian confiscations in the aftermath of the Irish Confederate Wars, transferred the property and grounds to the Loftus family, following which it took on the name of Loftus Hall in 1666. The building you see today is an entire rebuild over the foundations of the original. This was built between 1870 and 1871 by the Fourthth Marquess of Ely. Less than half a century later, in 1917, the hall was bought by the Sisters of Providence, who turned it into a convent and school for young girls interested in joining the order. In 1983 the nuns departed and it became the Loftus Hall Hotel, which saw mixed fortunes and finally closed down in the late 1990s. Today it is once again under new ownership and open to visitors, providing a modern café and tours of the building whilst undergoing redevelopment.

The sinister-looking Loftus Hall
Image: Michael Harpur


For most Wexford people, Loftus Hall is the seat of its most famous ghost story. For Loftus, before its demolition and rebuild, was believed to be haunted by the devil and by the ghost of a young woman. The story dates back to 1766 and is redolent of a tale cast by the Brontë sisters, almost like Emily’s Wuthering Heights combined with Charlotte’s Jane Eyre. The tale began one night when the Loftus family were away on business, leaving Charles Tottenham, his wife, and daughter Anne to take care of the mansion in their absence. During a storm a ship unexpectedly arrived and anchored in a part of the estuary overlooked by the mansion. It was customary for the noble passengers to take shelter from storms at the Great Hall, so when a well-dressed young man arrived at the door looking for shelter from the driving rain, he was welcomed in. The weather remained broken for several days, and during his continued stay the man became very taken with Anne. They would spend hours in the tapestry room talking and longing for the rain to stop so they might take a stroll along the peninsula. Anne and the young man had become very close and a spiritual relationship sparkled between them.


The beautiful stairway within Loftus Hall today
Image: Tourism Ireland


Long, dark evenings were spent playing cards by the fire in the house’s large drawing room. Traditionally the men played at one table, while the ladies of the house played at another. One night it was particularly cold and both the men and the ladies moved their tables closer to the fire. By happenstance, Anne dropped a card to the floor. Bending down to pick it up, she chanced to glance beneath the table and saw that the mysterious man had cloven feet. Anne hurtled back, sending the men’s table flying. She screamed that the man had the feet of the devil, whereupon the man self-immolated, shooting up through the roof in a ball of flame. All that remained was the pungent smell of brimstone and a large hole agape in the ceiling.


Views within the house today
Image: Tourism Ireland


Anne never recovered from the event and her mental health suffered. It is believed that the family were so ashamed of Anne’s flirtation with the demon that they locked her away in her favourite room, which was the Tapestry Room. Eventually she refused food and drink, and sat with her knees under her chin looking out of the window across the estuary. There she sat endlessly waiting for her mysterious stranger to return, until her untimely death in 1775. It is said that when she died they could not straighten her body as her muscles had seized in the seated position, and she was buried as such.


The house remains home to Wexford’s most famous ghost
Image: Tourism Ireland


The hole in the roof could never properly be repaired thereafter and the cloven-hooved stranger returned to cause persistent poltergeist activity. Likewise, the ghost of a young woman, presumed to be Anne Tottenham, made frequent appearances in the old Hall, especially in the Tapestry Room. The house was exorcised several times, but this never fully resolved the problems. It was only when the building was completely demolished in 1871 by the Fourth Marquess of Ely that the preternatural events came to an end. Although the present Loftus Hall is an entirely new building, much of the skeleton of the original house can be found in the foundations and fabric of the current structure. Interest in the ghost story has remained strong and many aspects of the story seem to have attached themselves to the newer house.

The beach at Lumsdin’s Bay
Image: Michael Harpur


Loftus Hall makes for a wonderful afternoon and, likewise, for those prepared to take a longer, 45-minute hike, there is the historic Hook Lighthouse, which is accessible from this anchorage. It has an excellent visitor centre, guided tours and a very good café.


What facilities are available?
This is a secluded bay with no facilities save for a good landing beach and a footpath/old cart track that leads up to the road. There is a café at Loftus Hall, while the village of Fethard-on-Sea, one hour’s walk, provides moderately good provisioning potential.


Any security concerns?
You are most likely to be completely alone and away from any interference at this beach.


With thanks to:
Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.




























A taste of Loftis Hall’s eerie mystique.



This following short gets somewhat carried away with the story of Anne and the mysterious visitor.



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