Qualla: Porth Dafarch https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Porth Dafarch https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch Porth Dafarch: Introduction https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch/ Photo credit Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0. Before the Holyhead Breakwater existed, when north winds made the main port too dangerous to enter, the Dublin packet boats would sometimes divert here instead. Porth Dafarch is a small sheltered bay on the west side of Holy Island - about 100 metres across, walled with Precambrian rock that has been eroded into sea caves and high cliffs, opening southwest into the Irish Sea. There is an old customs post dating from 1819 still standing above the beach, a Grade II listed reminder of the days when this little inlet was a working alternative port. Today it is a Blue Flag beach with a sandy bottom, popular for swimming, rock-pooling, surfing, sea kayaking, and the unusual claim to fame of being the landfall point for a major transatlantic fibre-optic cable.

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Image: Eric Jones | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/gckx-porth-dafarch-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Porth Dafarch: What the Name Might Mean https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch/ Photo credit Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Welsh name is more complicated than it looks. Some sources interpret it as a contraction of Porth Dau Farch, 'Harbour of the Two Stallions'. Welsh placename scholars are fairly sure this is wrong. The actual etymology is uncertain - the name has been recorded in documents as ...

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Image: Eric Jones | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/gckx-porth-dafarch-what-the-name-might-mean.mp3 0:06 2 full Porth Dafarch: The Back-Up Port https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch/ Photo credit 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0. From the mid-seventeenth century until the early nineteenth, Porth Dafarch served as the alternative to Holyhead when north winds made the main harbour impossible to enter. Mail and passengers heading for Dublin would be landed here when the prevailing conditions made the regular...

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Image: 瑞丽江的河水 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/gckx-porth-dafarch-the-back-up-port.mp3 0:06 3 full Porth Dafarch: What Lies Under the Sand https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch/ Photo credit k.dowdell, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the winter of 2011 and 2012, between mid-December and mid-January, engineers landed a marine fibre-optic cable at Porth Dafarch. The CeltixConnect cable - 72 fibre pairs running between Ireland and the UK - was laid in about thirty days and makes landfall here, on this small W...

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Image: k.dowdell | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/gckx-porth-dafarch-what-lies-under-the-sand.mp3 0:06 4 full Porth Dafarch: What You Do Here Now https://qualla.com/porth-dafarch/ Photo credit Robin Drayton, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 2021, Porth Dafarch was awarded Blue Flag status - the international beach quality designation - confirming what locals already knew: this is one of the cleanest and safest swimming beaches on Holy Island. The bay is popular for windsurfing, surfing, canoeing, sailing, jet ski...

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Image: Robin Drayton | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/x/porth-dafarch-wp/gckx-porth-dafarch-what-you-do-here-now.mp3 0:06 5 full