Ireland’s official best beach has been named and it’s a good one

It's fair to say that for a small nation, Ireland more than holds its own when it comes to coastal scenery.

Our small island is home to some of the most stunning cliffs, coast walks and seafronts and on the rare occasions when we get the weather, our beaches could rival those along the Med or beyond. Ireland's top beach, as chosen by Trip Advisor users, has been named as Inch Beach in County Kerry. The beach, which sits on the Dingle peninsula, picked up the accolade based on the the quality and quantity of reviews on the popular travel site. The beach was also rated 22nd in Europe overall. Inchydoney Beach, near Clonakilty in West Cork, came in second place in Ireland and 24th in Europe. Dog's Bay Beach in Roundstone, County Galway was named the third-best beach. The rest of the top ten were:

4. Barleycove Beach, Schull 5. Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle 6. Maghera Beach and Caves, Ardara 7. Silver Strand Beach, Malin Beg 8. Derrynane Beach, Caherdaniel 9. Strandhill Beach, Strandhill 10. Banna Strand, Tralee

"Year after year Ireland’s beaches continue to beat many others located in exotic destinations around the globe, proving that it’s not just good weather that makes a cracking beach," Hayley Coleman, TripAdvisor spokesperson. [caption id="attachment_390915" align="alignnone" width="724"] Grace Bay Beach[/caption]   Europe's best beach was named as La Concha Beach in San Sebastian, Spain while the best beach in the world, according to Trip Advisor, is Grace Bay, located on the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.