Beach saunas are making waves in Ireland
Dungarvan – For Sharon Fidgeon, 52, a regular visitor to Ireland’s increasingly popular beach saunas, her weekend sessions “have become a healthy addiction” that tap into a centuries-old Irish tradition of toning up by getting sweaty.
Speaking on sandy Clonea beach on Ireland’s wind-battered Atlantic coast, the artist says that alternating between the sauna and freezing seawater makes her feel “so incredibly alive”.
“Once you get down in the sea up to your neck, it really sets off the endorphins in your body,” says Fidgeon after a dunk in the 2km-long bay near Dungarvan in County Waterford.
“And having the sauna here lets me stay in the sea that bit longer,” she adds before putting on a dry robe and sandals and stepping into the barrel-shaped structure on wheels above the beach.
In Ireland, Covid launched a surge in sea swimming as a bracing escape from lockdowns.
Mobile saunas became a post-Covid “add-on”, says Deirdre Flavin, who operates several along the Waterford coast. She tows them to beaches by car.
“The market is growing and steadily increasing, awareness is spreading, and people are enjoying the experience and coming back for more,” she says, while firing up one of her saunas.
Aside from their health benefits, Flavin, 40, says the cosy boltholes are ideal havens in Ireland’s wild and often wet and chilly weather.
“People can more comfortably swim all year round now as they can warm up their body cores after the dip,” she says as she packs wooden logs into the sauna’s stove.
Further along the southern coast in County Cork, customers at another sauna laud the activity for stress relief and for aiding recovery after strenuous sports.
“A lot of the lads in the hurling team would like to get into the water and the sauna. It’s become a thing to do for teams,” says student Rory O’Callaghan, 20, referring to the combative Irish field sport that’s played with sticks.
Sauna owner Bronwyn Connolly suffers from arthritis and when indoor public spaces were shuttered during Covid, she bought a small barrel sauna and towed it to Garrettstown beach.
“I was struggling a lot with pain and the sauna and the cold water just eased it. A plunge in the sea after building up a sweat just seems to wash away all the worries,” she says.
As sports teams and corporate groups began showing more interest, she set about designing a bigger one, relying on books and YouTube videos for know-how.
With a large window on one side and curved tiered seating with a fire, a group can sit chatting and marvelling at the ocean waves crashing on the beach.
“It’s really becoming a social thing where friends or even strangers can meet. Irish people are shifting to less alcohol-driven things and more wellness-driven things,” says Connolly.