{"id":210720,"date":"2025-12-25T19:57:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/210720\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T19:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:57:22","slug":"irelands-bravest-souls-take-to-the-sea-on-a-bright-but-bitterly-cold-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/210720\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland’s bravest souls take to the sea on a bright but bitterly cold day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The oceans and seas around Ireland were filled with screams and shouts on Christmas Day<\/a> \u2014 and it was not out of shock at the wondrous gifts that Santa had delivered.<\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin Twomey, Amy Winning, Siobhan O\u2019Shea, P\u00e1draig Wilson McCarthy, and Faye Ormond enjoying their Christmas Day swim at a sunny Myrtleville, Co Cork. \tPicture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\n

Others exposed their pale freckled bodies to the freezing water.<\/p>\n

They looked smugly at those who had decided to cover virtually every inch of skin in a thick layer of neoprene.<\/p>\n

\"DozensDozens of hardy souls racing to the water for the Golden Jubilee Christmas Day Swim at Broadstrand, Courtmacsherry, West Cork. They were raising funds for the Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Unit at Cork University Hospital and Horizons Cork (Cope Foundation) which support adults and children with intellectual disabilities. \tPicture: Martin Walsh<\/p>\n

From the (comparatively) warmer beach, dogs barked at their owners who were venturing into the depths, the only thing stopping them from joining them being the rather more sane people at the other end of the lead who had come along to offer moral support.<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Corkery from Castleknock plunged into the Forty Foot in Sandycove, Dublin, in a Santa hat and beard. \tPicture: Niall Carson\/PA<\/p>\n

In the water there was the usual divide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were those who stepped into the water at a glacially slow pace, letting out screeches as the water tipped off one sensitive area after another until finally they were at the point where it was \u2018now or never\u2019 and they let themselves drop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MartinaMartina Hooley, Jo Breslin, Linda Donoghue, Tara Buckley, and Za McCarthy took the plunge in Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Howard Crowdy<\/p>\n

Others tore across the shallows and into the depths, flinging themselves into the water before the full impact of the cold<\/a> could put them off.<\/p>\n

There was also the usual sight of people coming out of the water and then going back in and uttering those maddening words to those who were entering for the first time: \u201cIt is always easier the second time you go back in\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne participant’s reaction to the icy cold water at the Forty Foot in Sandycove, Dublin, sums up everyone’s notion of diving into the sea for a Christmas Day swim. Picture: Niall Carson\/PA\u00a0<\/p>\n

From beaches all along the 1,200km coastline of Cork \u2014 at locations including Youghal, Myrtleville, Courtmacsherry, and Fountainstown \u2014 to Blackrock Pier at Salthill in Galway, and the Forty Foot in Dublin\u2019s Sandycove, the Christmas atmosphere was undimmed by the cold conditions as people home for the holidays met friends and acquaintances they may not have seen for months.<\/p>\n

\"JulietteJuliette Collins, Rochestown, and Jill Donegan, Douglas, at the Christmas Day swim in Fountainstown, Co Cork. Picture: David Creedon<\/p>\n

It is a typically Irish, typically quirky pastime, the Christmas swims. And you can bet there will be more screams, curses, and laughter as more people fling themselves into the waves today.<\/p>\n

\u2022 See more photos from Ireland’s Christmas Day swims here: In Pictures: Thousands take to sea for Christmas Day swims<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meet more of our hardy Christmas Day swimmers\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnnaAnna and Terri O\u2019Keefe, Claire Coffey, and Caoimhe O\u2019Keeffe enjoying their Christmas Day swim at Myrtleville, Co Cork. \tPicture: Dan Linehan
\n \"AoifeAoife Harte, Juliette Harte, and Nyah Burns from Timoleague at the Golden Jubilee Swim in Courtmacsherry, Co Cork. Picture: Martin Walsh
\n \" More than 400 swimmers took part in the Christmas Day swim at Banna Strand, Co Kerry in aid of the Banna Sea Rescue unit. It was followed by the traditional ‘back to the boathouse’ activities, including refreshments and music. Picture: Domnick Walsh\"MakingMaking a splash at the annual Christmas Day Swim in Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Howard Crowdy\"Ail\u00edsAil\u00eds Crowley from Bandon was one of the last out at the Golden Jubilee Christmas Day Swim at Broadstrand, Courtmacsherry, West Cork. Picture: Martin Walsh\"ShaiShai O’Donovan and her mum Anat having a warm cuppa after the Golden Jubilee Christmas Day Swim at Broadstrand, Courtmacsherry, West Cork. Picture: Martin Walsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The oceans and seas around Ireland were filled with screams and shouts on Christmas Day \u2014 and it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9484,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-210720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-christmas","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}