The Forty Foot () is a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

on the southern tip of

Dublin Bay Dublin Bay () is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth He ...

Sandycove Sandycove () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is southeast of Dún Laoghaire and Glasthule, and northwest of Dalkey. It is a popular seaside resort and is well known for its bathing place, the Forty Foot, which in the past was reserved for m ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, from which people have been swimming in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

all year round for some 250 years. * *

Name

The name "Forty Foot" is somewhat obscure. On an 1833 map, the Marine Road (located to the west) was named the Forty Foot Road, possibly because it was wide; the name may have been transferred to the swimming place, which was called the Forty-Foot Hole in the 19th century. Other accounts claim the name was given by fishermen because it was forty feet (

fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...

s) deep, but the water in the area is no deeper than . Others have attempted to link it to the

40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunte ...

, who supposedly bathed there, but they were stationed at

Richmond Barracks Richmond Barracks was a British Army barracks in Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a cultural centre. History The barracks, which were named after Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, were completed in 1810 and first occupied by the Brit ...

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...

Use

At first, it was exclusively a male bathing place, and ''Sandycove Bathers Association'', a men's swimming club was established. Owing to its relative isolation and gender-restrictions it became a popular spot for

nudists Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. On 24 July 1974, about a dozen female equal-rights activists ("Dublin City Women’s Invasion Force") went swimming, and

sat The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

with

placard A placard is a notice installed in a public place, like a small :wikt:card, card, Signage, sign, or :wikt:plaque, plaque. It can be attached to or hung from a vehicle or building to indicate information about the vehicle operator or contents of a ...

s. * * and later, including fewer than five women, swam nude in 1989. Now swimming is open to men, women, and children. In 2014, the ''Sandycove Bathers Association'' ended the ban on women club members, and they may now use the onsite changing rooms and clubhouse kitchen. The swimming club requests voluntary contributions for the upkeep of the area.

Safety

Death, near-drowning and hypothermia have resulted from swimming at Forty Foot.

In literature

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

and

Oliver St. John Gogarty Oliver Joseph St. John Gogarty (17 August 1878 – 22 September 1957) was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses ( ...

once resided at the

Martello tower Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...

together. It is now the

James Joyce Tower and Museum The James Joyce Tower and Museum is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904. The opening scenes of his 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' take place here, and the tower is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusiasts ...

. The opening section of Joyce's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...

'' is set here, with the characters

Stephen Dedalus Stephen Dedalus is James Joyce's literary alter ego, appearing as the protagonist and antihero of his first, semi-autobiographic novel of artistic existence, ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' (1916), and as a major character in his 19 ...

and

Buck Mulligan Malachi Roland St. John "Buck" Mulligan is a fictional character in James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. He appears most prominently in episode 1 (" Telemachus"), and is the subject of the novel's famous first sentence: "Stately, plump Buck Mu ...

being partly based on Joyce himself and Gogarty, respectively. Buck Mulligan described the sea as "The snotgreen sea. The scrotumtightening sea." The Forty Foot also featured in the novels ''

At Swim-Two-Birds ''At Swim-Two-Birds'' is a 1939 novel by Irish writer Flann O'Brien, Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It is widely considered to be O'Brien's masterpiece, and one of the most sophisticated examples of metafiction. The ...

'' by

Flann O'Brien Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...

(1939), ''

At Swim, Two Boys ''At Swim, Two Boys'' (2001) is a novel by Irish writer Jamie O'Neill. The title is a punning allusion to Flann O'Brien's ''At Swim-Two-Birds''. The book is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, which has led to favourable comparisons to ...

'' by

Jamie O'Neill Jamie O'Neill (born 1 January 1962) is an Irish author. His critically acclaimed novel, ''At Swim, Two Boys'' (2001), earned him the highest advance ever paid for an Irish novel and frequent praise as the natural successor to James Joyce, Flan ...

(2001) and '' Nessuna notizia dello scrittore scomparso '' by Daniele Bresciani (2017).

In media

The Forty Foot is featured in the series ''

Bad Sisters ''Bad Sisters'' is an Irish black comedy television series developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer. Set in Dublin and filmed on location in Ireland, it is based on the Belgian series ''Clan'', which was created by Malin-Sarah Go ...

''. In the 2023 documentary film '' Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman'',

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

visits the location, which ends up serving as inspiration for the composition of a song by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

and

the Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

called "40 Foot Man" featured in the credits of the show.

Images

File:Forty foot pic.jpg, Forty Foot changing rooms and clubhouse kitchen, 2008 File:Sunrise In Sandycove Dublin Ireland (97559339).jpeg, Sunrise at the Forty Foot, 2015 File:Sunrise In Sandycove Dublin Ireland (97656477).jpeg, Sunrise at the Forty Foot, 2015

References

{{Reflist

External links

40foot.org
usurped site
Fortyfoot.org
usurped site
the Forty Foot
1982 RTE documentary Places in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown