{"id":537105,"date":"2026-07-07T07:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T07:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/537105\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T07:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T07:45:11","slug":"which-jellyfish-should-you-look-out-for-in-ireland-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/537105\/","title":{"rendered":"Which jellyfish should you look out for in Ireland this summer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lola O’Sullivan, a Water Safety Ireland volunteer in Waterford, joined Today with David McCullagh on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 to discuss the danger of jellyfish. Listen back above.<\/p>\n

“There’s a variety of types of jellyfish out there at the moment,” Lola explains, listing Compass jellyfish, Blue jellyfish, and Barrel jellyfish as Ireland’s usual suspects.<\/p>\n

While some species will give more of a sting than others, Lola says that the ones you really have to watch out for are the Lion’s Mane and Portuguese Man o’ War, which tend to appear in Irish waters around August.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to know what type of jellyfish you have been stung by, so it is best to seek medical attention if your discomfort goes beyond the pain of a nettle sting.<\/p>\n

A sting from a Lion’s Mane jellyfish can cause nausea, sweating, cramps, headaches and other symptoms, while a Portuguese Man O’War’s sting can cause muscle spasms, headaches, diarrhoea, difficulty breathing, heart rhythm problems and other symptoms.<\/p>\n

\"Portuguese
\nPortuguese Man o’ War. Getty Images.<\/p>\n

Read more: Ireland’s jellyfish: A quick guide from a marine biologist<\/a><\/p>\n

One whimsically named jellyfish that is present in Ireland, but can often be mistaken for a Portuguese Man o’ War, is the By-the-Wind Sailor.<\/p>\n

“They’re absolutely harmless, but they’re all over the beaches,” she explains.<\/p>\n

What people need to be super aware of, she insists, is that even when a jellyfish has been washed up onto a beach, the sting remains. This is something to be particularly mindful of when it comes to young children and curious pets.<\/p>\n

\"
\nA by-the-wind sailor jellyfish. Getty Images.<\/p>\n

What to do if you have been stung<\/p>\n

Seek help and advice from lifeguards if possible
\nTry to carefully remove any attached tentacles by flushing the sting area with seawater
\nRemoving tentacles with gloved hands, a clean stick, tweezers, or scraping gently with the edge of a credit card. Don’t try to rub them off.
\nMild symptoms of pain and swelling can be treated with simple painkillers
\nMild itching at the sting site may respond to anti-histamine creams
\nApply a ‘dry cold pack’ to the area
\nUse hot water for Portuguese Man O’War stings at approximately 45\u00b0 Celsius for 20 minutes
\nKeep any puncture wounds clean and dry to avoid them getting infected
\nSeek medical attention if you develop any serious symptoms<\/p>\n

What not to do<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t rub the area
\nDon\u2019t rinse with fresh water; use seawater
\nDon\u2019t pee on the sting (this is a myth and will make it worse)
\nDon\u2019t use vinegar for the types of jellyfish stings that might happen in Ireland
\nDon\u2019t use alcohol
\nDon\u2019t put on a tight bandage<\/p>\n

For more information on jellyfish stings, visit HSE.ie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lola O’Sullivan, a Water Safety Ireland volunteer in Waterford, joined Today with David McCullagh on RT\u00c9 Radio 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":["post-537105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537105","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=537105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}