Everything you need to know before you head out: weather, what to pack, the best seasons, and useful links.
Half-day highlights, full-day explorer, rainy day plan, and weekend escape: all mapped out step by step.
Skerries sits on the open north Fingal coast, fully exposed to the Irish Sea and the easterly winds that come off it. Temperatures are typically 4-9°C in winter and 14-20°C in summer. The town is flatter and more exposed than the sheltered south Dublin villages, so wind matters: an easterly builds a real swell at the harbour and the Springers, and is the main thing that stops the island sea tours.
Local producers, markets, and makers worth a stop before you leave Skerries.
Stoneground wholemeal flour
Stoneground flour milled on the historic windmills and watermill, sold at the mill and Saturday market.
Known for: Stoneground wholemeal flour
Hours: Mill and shop daytime hours; market Saturdays roughly 10:00-14:00
Visit websiteLocal fruit, vegetables and deli foods
An independent Strand Street grocer and deli, grown from a Loughshinny market garden, championing local producers.
Known for: Local fruit, vegetables and deli foods
Hours: Daytime; shop hours, confirm locally
Visit websiteArtisan breads and pastries
A small artisan bakery on New Street, breads and pastries with click-and-collect.
Known for: Artisan breads and pastries
Hours: Daytime; bakery hours, confirm locally
Shop directRoseate terns return to Rockabill from May. The sea tours start running on settled weekends. The market and the windmills run year-round.
Spring is when the islands come back to life. The roseate terns return to Rockabill from May to breed in the largest colony in Europe, and the Skerries sea tours start running out to the lighthouse and to Lambay on the first settled weekends. The water is still cold, but the Frosties never stopped, and the South Strand fills with walkers as the light lengthens. Skerries Mills turns over all year, and the Saturday farmers market under the windmills is easier to enjoy before the summer crowds arrive. The coastal walk out around Red Island is at its best now, with the gorse coming into yellow along the Barnageeragh cliffs and the terns working the water below.
Peak season. Skerries 100 races first weekend of July; Traditional Music Weekend early June. Swimming, sailing and the island tours are all running.
Summer is the busy stretch and the harbour is the centre of it. The Skerries 100 motorcycle races take over the Milverton circuit on the first weekend of July, and the Traditional Music Weekend fills the pubs at the start of June. The Springers and the Captains are busy from early morning, the sailing club is out most evenings, and the sea tours run to Rockabill and Lambay most days the weather holds. Stoop Your Head does not take bookings, so go early or wait, and the outdoor tables at the Blue Bar and Joe May's are worth the timing. The long evenings are made for the South Strand after dinner, when the day-trippers have caught the train home and the beach is back to the locals.
Island tours wind down by October. The market and mills carry the season. Quieter beaches and clear walking light.
Autumn hands the beaches back. The sea tours wind down through September as the weather turns, and the South Strand and the Red Island loop empty out into clear, blustery walking days. The water is at its warmest of the year in early autumn, which the swimmers know even if the visitors do not. Skerries Mills keeps milling and the Saturday market keeps going under the sails, with the first of the season's apples and the bakery stalls busy. Ardgillan Demesne, a few minutes up the coast, is worth the trip for the walled garden and the beech avenues as they turn. This is the season the town feels most like itself again.
The Frosties swim all winter off the Springers. Mills and market run year-round. Pubs and the harbour carry the season.
Winter belongs to the Frosties, the cold-water swimmers who go off the Springers every day of the year, hurricanes aside. The harbour is at its most dramatic with a winter sea running, and the Red Island loop is a bracing forty minutes in any weather. The sea tours stop and the day-trippers thin out, but Skerries Mills stays open and the Saturday market keeps trading under the windmills. The pubs come into their own now, the fires going in Joe May's and the Snug, and you can get a table at Stoop Your Head that you would queue an hour for in July. Bring a dryrobe if you mean to swim; the regulars are not exaggerating about the cold.
Check Met Eireann for the latest Skerries forecast before you head out.
Met Eireann
Plan your train journey to Skerries. DART runs every 10-30 minutes from Dublin city centre.
Irish Rail
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Plan your journey to Skerries by DART, bus, or car.
Transport for Ireland
Explore more of Dublin beyond Skerries, from Temple Bar to Phoenix Park.
Visit Dublin
Detailed transport options for reaching Skerries by DART, bus, car, taxi, or bicycle.
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