Trá na mBan, An Spidéal

Trá na mBan is a popular bathing area consisting of a mixture of rocky foreshore and sandy areas which are covered at high tide. Trá na mBan supports a variety of animals, birds, shellfish and plants. Seals and otters may be spotted off the coast. Activities include swimming, bathing and watersports.

Trá na mBan is a coastal bathing area, receiving water from the Owenboliska Subcatchment ref: SC_010 code 31_6 (EPA). It is located within a Gaeltacht area on the shores of Galway Bay just 17kms to the West of Galway City. Galway Bay is a west facing bay, open to the Atlantic. Trá na mBan is just east of the village by the roadside of the R336 opposite the Spidéal Craft and Design Village. Trá na mBan is one of two designated bathing areas in An Spidéal. The other, Céibh an Spidéil, is located on the west side of the village near the pier. The beach is approximately 400 metres long with a bathing area of 800m2.

The strandline is typically composed of traces of brown and red seaweeds and some peat. Vegetation is sparse along the upper zone of the shore. Small stands of seaweed may be present on both the strand and in the bathing water, however they are unlikely to pose a nuisance to bathers. The rocky shore exhibits typical banded zonation patterns, with lichens including Black Tar Lichen (Verrucaria spp.) present. In the upper and middle shore there are different types of seaweeds including Channelled Wrack (Pelvetia canaliculata), Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) and Red Algae (Rhodophyceae spp.). Other species include Mussels (Mytilus edulis), Limpets (Patella spp.) and Periwinkles (Littorina spp.). Two small streams flow onto the beach. These streams are particularly noticeable after heavy rain. The bathing area can also be influenced by the river Loch Bhoth Loiscthe (River Owenboliska) which flows west of the bathing area. This river can, on occasion, impart a degree of peat cover on the strand, as peat from boglands in the catchment area is washed out into the bay. Birds commonly found on the beach at Trá na mBan include Herring Gulls (Largus argentatus), Rock Pipits (Anthus petrosus), Grey Herons (Ardea cinera), Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), Red Shank (Tringa totanus), Lesser Black Backed Gulls (Larus fuscus), Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) and Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus). Outer Galway Bay also provides good quality habitat for Common Seal (Phoca vitulina) and Otter (Lutra lutra) which are sometimes spotted along the Spidéal coastline.