Bathing water quality — 12 of 31 areas ranked
Many areas here are ranked on very few records -- a rate based on 1 or 2 is not comparable to one based on hundreds, even though both display the same way. Treat a top-ranked figure with a low count in the "Sales counted" column with real caution.
This page ranks 12 of 31 areas at this level — 13 have no published figure for this dataset (see the coverage notes above for why, where one applies), and 6 more have a figure but too few observations to rank reliably.
Figures as of 2024, published by CSO PxStat. Accessed 2026-09-18.
Share of a local authority's EPA-designated bathing waters rated 'Excellent' that year, from the Environmental Protection Agency's annual assessment.
| Rank | Local authority | Bathing water quality | Sales counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clare County Council | 100.00% | 14 |
| 1 | Kerry County Council | 100.00% | 16 |
| 3 | Mayo County Council | 93.30% | 15 |
| 4 | Galway County Council | 92.30% | 13 |
| 5 | Wexford County Council | 87.50% | 8 |
| 6 | Donegal County Council | 81.00% | 21 |
| 7 | Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council | 80.00% | 5 |
| 7 | Sligo County Council | 80.00% | 5 |
| 9 | Cork County Council | 78.60% | 14 |
| 10 | Waterford City And County Council | 66.70% | 6 |
| 11 | Wicklow County Council | 57.10% | 7 |
| 12 | Fingal County Council | 30.00% | 10 |
Two or more areas with the same figure share a rank -- the next rank is skipped (e.g. two areas tied for 1st means the next entry is ranked 3rd, not 2nd).
Before you use these figures
- Only local authorities with designated bathing waters are shown: The EPA publishes bathing water ratings only for local authorities with at least one EPA-designated bathing water — an inland or landlocked authority with none simply has no figure here, which is not the same as a poor rating. This site never shows such an authority as zero or ranks it against ones that do have designated bathing waters.
- A single bathing water can swing a small authority's whole figure: Some local authorities have only one or two designated bathing waters. One site's rating there is the whole figure, so it moves in large steps and is not comparable to a larger coastal authority with many sites — authorities below a minimum number of sites are left out of the ranking table for this reason, though their own figure is still shown.
- Latest figure: 2024 — 2 years old: This dataset is published annual and the publisher hasn't released anything newer. Nothing is missing from this page.
Cite this ranking:
Bathing water quality, 12 of 31 areas ranked Caveats: Only local authorities with designated bathing waters are shown; A single bathing water can swing a small authority's whole figure; Latest figure: 2024 — 2 years old StatsMapped last confirmed these figures on 18 Sep 2026. Source: CSO PxStat https://statsmapped.com/ireland/rankings/bathing-water-quality
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