Curracloe Beach

Curracloe runs about eleven kilometres up the Wexford coast north of the harbour, a wide gently shelving beach of fine sand behind a substantial dune ridge and a strip of planted forest. It is the county's main beach, Blue Flag at the main access points and lifeguarded through the summer. The Ballinesker end was used in 1997 to film the opening landing sequence of Saving Private Ryan, standing in for Omaha Beach, and later for Brooklyn; nothing was left behind, so there is nothing to see beyond the sand itself, which disappoints a steady trickle of film visitors. Behind the beach the Raven Nature Reserve protects dune and pine woodland with a range of orchids and wintering birds on the adjoining Wexford Slobs. The dunes are eroding in places and boardwalks route people across them. Rips run at the northern end away from the guarded sections.

What you actually see

• The strand - eleven kilometres of fine sand behind a dune ridge.
• The Raven reserve - dune and pine woodland at the northern end.
• The film location - the Ballinesker end, with nothing physical remaining.
• The dunes - extensive, eroding, crossed by boardwalks.

When to go

May to September; lifeguards at the main access points in high summer. Winter brings the birds on the neighbouring slobs. August weekends fill the car parks.

Honest expectations

Nothing of the film sets remains - it is a beach. Rips run outside the guarded sections. Dunes are fragile; use the boardwalks. Facilities are seasonal outside the village.

Nearby

Wexford town is south; the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve is on the slobs nearby.