{"id":667293,"date":"2026-01-01T17:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/667293\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T17:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T17:50:26","slug":"hundreds-brave-icy-waters-in-carnlough-for-charity-on-new-years-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/667293\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds brave icy waters in Carnlough for charity on New Year’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Sisters<\/p>\n

Sisters Patricia Cowan and Mandy Clark at the Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people celebrated the New Year with a bracing tradition, as hardy swimmers braved the icy waters in Carnlough.<\/p>\n

It comes as scores of people have taken part in sea swims right across the island of Ireland to start off 2026.<\/p>\n

Around the Irish coastline from Co Antrim to Co Cork dozens of events took place ranging from larger scale charity fundraisers to smaller social groups.<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

The Carnlough event was in support of a worthy cause at the annual Co Antrim charity swim organised by the Ballymena branch of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association.<\/p>\n

The popular event marked its 54th year in 2026, drawing a large turnout of participants and spectators to the harbour.<\/p>\n

Sisters Patricia Cowan and Mandy Clark were among those taking part as they dived into the water wearing matching Minions-themed outfits.<\/p>\n

\"Sisters<\/p>\n

Sisters Patricia Cowan and Mandy Clark at the Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

Following the swim, certificates and trophies were presented at a reception in The Harbourview Hotel.<\/p>\n

Cold water swimming has become a popular event on New Year’s Day across Northern Ireland, with people braving the plunge at Benone Beach as well, and Camlough Lake.<\/p>\n

\"Carnlough<\/p>\n

Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph)<\/p>\n

Watch: New Year’s Day swim in Carnlough <\/p>\n

Many people even dress up for the occasion, with Patricia Cowan and Mandy Clarke jumping in their ‘minion’ costumes.<\/p>\n

There were also a number of dips around Northern Ireland\u2019s coastline, although some were cancelled on the morning because of concern over conditions.<\/p>\n

However, a number went ahead including a gathering at Benone Beach for a dip which raised money for the Community Rescue Service.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Bray, Co Wicklow, the \u201cGrinch\u201d led hardy crowds into the chilly Irish Sea waters to raise money for local causes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carnlough New Years Day swim on 1st January 2026 (Luke Jervis\/Belfast Telegraph) Carnlough New Years Day swim on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1211,5825,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-667293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-antrim-news","9":"tag-niamh-campbell","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115821113153308504","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}