What's the story here?

Ballytrent is a small open bay located to the northeast of Carne and St Margret’s Bay on the southeast corner of County Wexford. It is about two miles south of Rosslare Harbour and three miles north of Carnsore Point.




The open clean bay provides shelter during moderate winds from north round through west, to west by southwest in ample water with good sand holding. It, however, offers little protection to the prevailing south-westerlies although the Whilkeen Rocks, with their shallows and foul ground connecting to the shoreline, help to break up the groundswell and particularly so at low water.

How to get in?

Vessels following the coast but standing well off need not sail directly for the bay's central initial fix. Those approaching from the south must approach Ballytrent Bay by passing to the north of Whilkeen Rock. Once Whilkeen Rock is sited, it is possible to pass it at a sensible margin to port and keep it to port as it is rounded to pass on into the bay from the north side of the rock.



It is foul from Whilkeen Rock to the shore and it is not possible to pass inshore of the rock for a southern approach nor, specifically, take a shortcut directly from Carne and St Margret’s Bay into Balllytrent Bay.


Vessels approaching from the north should keep well clear of Greenore Point and Splaugh Rock. When well clear od these turn into the bay when Whilkeen Rock is seen to the south and keep it on the port side for the final approach.




From the initial fix, steer west by northwest into the bay for ½ a mile. The anchoring area will be readily apparent on approach as it lies beneath a grove of trees which is the only significant group of trees along this stretch of coast. There is also a radio mast within the treeline and a house standing close north.




Anchor according to draft and conditions in sand. Land on the beach by tender.

Why visit here?

Ballytrent, in Irish 'Baile Treaint', meaning Baile 'townland, town, homestead' of Treaint. This name is believed to be an English surname 'Trant' or 'de Treant' meaning 'of Trent, a parish in Somerset, or place in Dorset'. Alternatively, it could be from Trewent in Pembrokeshire. This would make it one of the very few Irish names in South Wexford that contains an Anglo-Norman component.




Ballytrent’s strategic importance dates back to The Early Middle Ages as is evidenced by the Mulgrave Ráth situated immediately above the beach. Ráths or ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built in Ireland during the period leading up to the 10th century. Although found throughout Northern Europe they are a particularly prominent feature of the Irish landscape. 40,000 ringfort sites have been identified in Ireland, and it is thought that possibly as many as 50,000 existed of which many have been destroyed by farming and urbanisation. These fortifications came in many sizes and may be made of stone or earth. Earthen ringforts would have been marked by a circular rampart, a bank and a ditch, often with a stake wall. Both stone and earthen ringforts would generally have had at least one building inside. In the Irish language, these fortifications are known by a number of names but mostly ráth, anglicised 'rath', and 'dún' anglicised 'dun' or 'doon'. The 'ráth' and 'lios' was an earthen ringfort; the 'ráth' being the enclosing bank and the 'lios' being the open space within. The term 'dún' was usually reserved for a stronghold of importance, which may or may not be ring-shaped.

Ballytrent’s Ráth, known as the Mulgrave Ráth, is a remarkably good example of its kind. It consists of two concentric enclosures, the outer being 594 metres in circumference. The Ráth derived its name from the Earl of Mulgrave and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who built a protective stone wall around it during the Victorian period. Today the ráth experienced here is a beautiful space, full of trees and shrubs that are a haven for songbirds. The 35-metre high flagpole that stands on the ráth’s outer seaward circle is likewise a remarkable feature. A readily conspicuous seaward feature it was used in the 1800′s to signal ships. This was used before radio communications had been established and the pole, in its day, was the tallest mast in the British Isles. The forty meters long log came from Canada bound along the length of a sailing ship. The ship took it to Tuskar Rock where it was cut loose and it is said to have been rowed ashore by men sat astride its great girth. This, in the currents off the southeast corner of Ireland, would have been a remarkable feat, let alone landing it and then erecting it in its current position.

The ringfort, mast and grove are all part of the grounds of the beautiful Ballytrent House. This 18th-century heritage house was once home to one of Ireland’s most famous nationalist politicians John Redmond 1856 - 1918. John Edward Redmond was a barrister and MP in the House of Commons who succeeded Parnell as leader of the Nationalist Party from 1900 to 1918. His parents were descended from dispossessed Catholic gentry who turned to commerce and banking in the 18th century. They thrived and used the resulting wealth to acquire a sizable amount of land in County Wexford that included Ballytrent House in 1799. By the time of John’s birth, the family had become a respected, prominent local landholding family and a member of a small Catholic elite that was disproportionately concentrated in the southeast of Ireland.

John was the eldest of fоur children who were brought up in the wonderful house and surroundings. His boyhood was shaped by a rural country life here that differed from thousands of similar landed gentry boys in many ways. Primarily the Catholic families and Catholic land-owners were few but there were wider differences. John’s father was a Home Rule МР dedicated to the principle of Irish autonomy. His mother, the daughter of a British General, although supporting her husband retained her unionist sympathies. She had however converted from Protestantism to Catholicism and the family were truly devout Catholics, so much so that one of John’s sisters became a Catholic nun. Most unusually, John himself married twice in his life; his first wife was Australian, and his second was English.

This unusual family backdrop was to shape his nature and later political views. It created a moderate, constitutional and conciliatory politician who believed in proper relationships between Catholics and Protestants, nationalists and unionists alike in Ireland. It would have also kept him very much outside of the claustrophobic 'all-things-Irish' and the 'closed-in-thinking' that may have suffocated many of his party colleagues. Through this disposition, he attained his two-lifetime objectives; party unity and finally, in September 1914, the promise of Irish Home Rule under an Act that granted an interim form of self-government to Ireland. Implementation of the Act was to be suspended by the intervention of World War I and ultimately made untenable after the Conscription Crisis of 1918. Nevertheless, John Redmond should be counted amongst Ireland’s greatest political leaders.



Today Ballytrent offers a lovely beach upon which to let a family off to run and play. Being east facing, it is easily landed upon when the swell is not getting into the bay. They will play in the Redmond family’s footsteps and look out to seaward, as would have, over Tuskar Rock lighthouse that has been lighting this corner of Ireland since 1815. The well-sheltered Ballytrent beach is served by a single road and is very popular, by Irish standards, during the summer.




From a boating point of view, it is a secluded and convenient deep anchorage conveniently situated about midway between Greenore and Carnsore points. It is a useful place to sit and wait for a favourable tide before moving on.




In settled weather, or when the bay is sheltered, a good night’s sleep could almost be guaranteed. But it would be exposed if the weather was to suddenly change.

What facilities are available?

The secluded beach has no facilities.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored off Ballytrent.

With thanks to:

Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.