Ireland's Top 10 beaches for 2019 - top choice is 'like Portugal, without the blazing sun'

"On a hot sunny day it feels like you could be in the south of France. Beautiful sand and water and lots of fresh strawberries to be bought en route!"

A Blue Flag beach stretching over 10km along Ireland's Sunny South Eastern coastline, you hailed "miles and miles" of "unspoiled sands" and dunes.

In fact, "clean" was one of the words used most often to describe a beach beloved by generations. "The best memories of my youth are from spending time here running up and down the dunes."

Ireland's Top 10 beaches 2019

1. Curracloe, Co Wexford
2. Inch, Co Kerry
3. Inchydoney, Co Cork
4. Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow
5. Keem Bay, Co Mayo
6. Ballybunion, Co Kerry
7. Enniscrone, Co Sligo
8. Tramore, Co Waterford
9. Portmarnock, Dublin
10. Dog's Bay, Co Galway

Walkers singled Curracloe out for strolls in every season. Many mentioned The Raven Nature Reserve at its southern end - a sand spit that has grown into a forested sand dune system where 35pc of the world's Greenland and White-fronted geese spend winter.

"The walk takes you to the 'end of the world', where you can see seals basking in the sun on sandbars," you told us. Its butterflies and wildflowers are lovely, too.

"No matter what the season or weather, it's breathtakingly beautiful. I never mind just sitting and watching the movement of the sand or the crashing of the waves," you said.

"Like Portugal without the blazing sun," Curracloe was famously the location for the frenetic D-Day landing scenes in Saving Private Ryan (1998). "A beautiful beach, and a popular table quiz answer thanks to Steven Spielberg," you said.

Readers noted Curracloe's closeness to Wexford town, and praised its parking, "great lifeguards", surf school, shop and access for visitors with disabilities, noting that despite its popularity with locals and visitors, "it is remote, so there is no mad traffic or pollution nearby".

See visitwexford.ie.

NB: The Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards 2019 are sponsored by Iarnród Eireann. Read the full list of winners here.