{{Short description|Promontory in Ireland}} {{About|the promontory near Dublin|river in Cambridgeshire|Forty Foot Drain|the Canadian band and their debut album|Forty Foot Echo}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox landform | water = | name = Forty Foot | other_name = | native_name = {{native name|ga|Cladach an Daichead Troigh}} | type = Promontory | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland | map_width = | map_caption = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_label = | mark = | marker_size = | location = | grid_ref = | grid_ref_UK = | grid_ref_Ireland = O 25829 28205 | coordinates = {{Coord|53|17|22|N|6|06|49|W|display=ti|region:IE_type:landmark}} | coordinates_ref = | range = | part_of = Dublin Bay | water_bodies = | elevation_ft = <!-- or |elevation_m = --> | elevation_ref = | surface_elevation_ft = <!-- or |surface_elevation_m = --> | surface_elevation_ref = | highest_point = | highest_elevation = | highest_coords = | length = | width = | area = | depth = {{cvt|20|ft}} at high tide | drop = | formed_by = | geology = | age = | orogeny = | volcanic_arc/belt = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = | last_eruption = | topo = | operator = | designation = | free_label_1 = | free_data_1 = | free_label_2 = | free_data_2 = | free_label_3 = | free_data_3 = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | embedded = }}
thumb|Forty Foot changing rooms and clubhouse kitchen, 2008 thumb|Sunrise at the Forty Foot, 2018
The '''Forty Foot''' ({{Langx|ga|Cladach an Daichead Troigh}})<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/1165031|title=Cladach an Daichead Troigh/Forty Foot|website=Logainm.ie}}</ref> is a promontory on the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin, Ireland, from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for some 250 years.<ref>as of 2008</ref><ref name=".org"> *{{Cite web|url=http://www.fortyfoot.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929144544/http://www.fortyfoot.org/|url-status=dead|title=Fortyfoot|archivedate=September 29, 2007|website=fortyfoot.org}} *{{cite web |title=FORTY FOOT |url=http://www.40foot.org/ |website=40foot.org |access-date=12 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013141423/http://www.40foot.org/ |archive-date=13 October 2004}}</ref>
==Name== The name "Forty Foot" is somewhat obscure. On an 1833 map, the Marine Road (located {{cvt|1.5|km}} to the west) was named the Forty Foot Road, possibly because it was {{cvt|40|ft}} wide; the name may have been transferred to the swimming place, which was called the '''Forty-Foot Hole''' in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uW5iTi8f_b8C&dq=%22Forty+Foot+hole%22+dublin&pg=PA24|title=Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses|first1=Don|last1=Gifford|first2=Robert J.|last2=Seidman|date=December 23, 1988|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520067455|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kNOAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Forty+Foot+hole%22+dublin&pg=PA543|title=Country Life Illustrated|date=December 23, 1899|publisher=Hudson & Kearns|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Other accounts claim the name was given by fishermen because it was forty feet ({{frac|6|2|3}} fathoms) deep, but the water in the area is no deeper than {{cvt|20|ft|m fathom}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pub-histories/republic-of-ireland/county-dublin/the-forty-foot-dun-laoghaire|title=The Forty Foot Dun Laoghaire - J D Wetherspoon|website=www.jdwetherspoon.com}}</ref> Others have attempted to link it to the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot, who supposedly bathed there, but they were stationed at Richmond Barracks in Inchicore.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5O3AwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Forty+Foot+hole%22&pg=PA73|title=Literary Translation: Quest for Artistic Integrity|first=Jin|last=Di|date=June 3, 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317639978|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://panoramicireland.com/blog-ireland-guide/forty-40-foot-dublin-irish-sea-swimming|title=Swimming at Dublin's Forty Foot|first=Darren|last=McLoughlin|website=panoramicireland.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/looking-at-places/dun-laoghaire-rathdown/baths-and-bathing/origins-of-baths-and-bath/famous-baths/|title=Famous Baths|website=www.askaboutireland.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQeWDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Forty+Foot+hole%22+dublin&pg=PT166|title=Family Walks Around Dublin|first=Adrian|last=Hendroff|date=May 31, 2017|publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd|isbn=9781788410076|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Use== At first, it was exclusively a male bathing place, and ''Sandycove Bathers Association'', a men's swimming club, was established.<ref name=".org"/> Owing to its relative isolation and gender-restrictions it became a popular spot for nudists.<ref name=".org"/> On 24 July 1974, about a dozen female equal-rights activists ("Dublin City Women’s Invasion Force") went swimming, and sat with placards.<ref name="protest-forty-foot"> *{{cite web |last1=O'Mara |first1=Aoife |title=ON THIS DAY: Irish women protested men-only bathing at the Forty Foot |url=https://www.meanwhileinireland.com/on-this-day-irish-women-protested-men-only-bathing-at-the-forty-foot/ |website=Meanwhile in Ireland |access-date=12 September 2022 |date=19 July 2022}} *{{cite web |title=The Forty Foot Is For Women Too: Women Invade Male Bathing Resort |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1666-women-and-society/370228-women-invade-male-bathing-resort/ |website=RTÉ Archives |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en |date=1974}} </ref> Later, a few women swam nude in 1989.<ref name="rte.ie/631349">{{cite web |title=Nude Bathing At The Forty Foot |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2014/0717/631349-nude-bathing-at-the-forty-foot/ |website=RTÉ Archives |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en |date=July 1989}}</ref> Now swimming is open to men, women, and children. In 2014, the ''Sandycove Bathers Association'' ended the ban on women club members,<ref name="protest-forty-foot"/> and they may now use the onsite changing rooms and clubhouse kitchen.<ref name="wheresmybackpack/forty-foot">{{cite web |last1=Prideaux-Mooney |first1=Ailsa |title=Freezing at the Forty Foot |url=https://wheresmybackpack.com/2016/01/06/freezing-at-the-forty-foot/ |website=Where's my backpack? |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en |date=7 January 2016}}</ref> The swimming club requests voluntary contributions for the upkeep of the area.<ref name=".org"/>
==Safety== Death, near-drowning and hypothermia have resulted from swimming at Forty Foot.<ref name="irishexaminer-30953758">{{cite news |title=Man, 50s, dies after getting into difficulty at Dublin's Forty Foot |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30953758.html |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=Irish Examiner |date=29 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cuddihy |first1=Tony |title=Woman pulled from the sea at Dublin's Forty Foot during storm today |url=https://www.her.ie/news/woman-pulled-sea-dublins-forty-foot-storm-today-391963 |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=Her.ie |date=2018-03-02 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Leary |first1=Kim |title=Brave lifeguards rescue injured swimmer at Forty Foot beach |url=https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/brave-lifeguards-rescue-injured-swimmer-23761852 |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=DublinLive |date=22 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="thejournal.ie/5397391">{{cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Céimin |title=Exhausted swimmer rescued clinging to rocks near Dublin's Forty Foot |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/swimmer-rescued-forty-foot-dublin-5397391-Mar2021/ |access-date=12 September 2022 |work=TheJournal.ie |date=March 31, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
==In literature== James Joyce and Oliver St. John Gogarty once resided at the Martello tower together. It is now the James Joyce Tower and Museum. The opening section of Joyce's ''Ulysses'' is set here, with the characters Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan 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'' by Flann O'Brien (1939), ''At Swim, Two Boys'' by Jamie O'Neill (2001), ''Nessuna notizia dello scrittore scomparso'' by Daniele Bresciani (2017),''The Elements'' by John Boyne (2025), and ''Again Rachel'' by Marian Keyes (2022).
==In media== The Forty Foot is featured in the series ''Bad Sisters''.<ref name="irishtimes-horgan-forty-foot">{{cite web |last1=Falvey |first1=Deirdre |title=Is that Sharon Horgan in the Forty Foot? ‘Swim to her!’ |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/is-that-sharon-horgan-in-the-forty-foot-swim-to-her-1.4644636 |website=The Irish Times |access-date=12 September 2022 |language=en |date=August 11, 2021}}</ref>
In the 2023 documentary film ''Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, With Dave Letterman'', David Letterman visits the location, which ends up serving as inspiration for the composition of a song by Bono and the Edge called "40 Foot Man" featured in the credits of the show.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman |url=https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/movie/bono-and-the-edge-a-sort-of-homecoming-with-dave-letterman |publisher=Disney+|date=March 17, 2023}}</ref>
==Further reading== * {{cite web |last1=Wainwright |first1=Loudon III |author1-link=Loudon Wainwright III |title=The 10 Best Places to Swim in the World, According to Me |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/opinion/sunday/best-places-swim-world.html |website=The New York Times |date=19 August 2017}} * {{cite web |title=Surf Report: Forty Foot |url=https://magicseaweed.com/Forty-Foot-Surf-Report/8105/ |website=Magic Seaweed |language=en}}
==Images== <gallery mode="packed" caption="Forty Foot" widths="150px" heights="150px"> 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 </gallery>
{{clear}} ==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050131180252/http://40foot.org/ 40foot.org] usurped site *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110707221140/http://fortyfoot.org/ Fortyfoot.org] usurped site *[http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2013/0122/647316-documentary-podcast-fortieth-of-foot-forty-foot-sandycove-dublin-bay/ the Forty Foot], 1982 RTE documentary
Category:Places in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown