A wood-fired barrel sauna and a cold plunge tub on the shore of Glencar Lough. 45 minutes. Evening light included.
Open Thursday to Sunday, 5pm to 9.30pm
The stove is lit before you arrive. Real logs, a barrel of proper heat waiting by the shore.
Sit in. Let the day loosen its grip. When you are good and hot, step out, climb the steps, and lower yourself into the cold tub. Your breath catches. Then it settles, and so do you.
Back to the heat. Out to the cold. As many rounds as 45 minutes will give you, with the light over the lough doing its slow trick the whole time.
“Where the wandering water gushesW. B. Yeats · The Stolen Child
from the hills above Glen-Car”
Yeats wrote this glen into “The Stolen Child”. The wandering water is still at it; the waterfall is a short walk from the carpark.
We are a small fenced spot right beside the shore, looking across the lough to the wooded cliffs and the evening light.
This is old sweathouse country. People here sweated in small stone chambers for centuries. A sauna at Glencar is not a new idea. It is an old one, back where it belongs.
Beside the barrel sits a wooden cold tub with steps. Climb up, climb in, get low. The cold does its work in seconds. It is the part people swear at, and then swear by.
The lough itself is a few strides away, and hardy souls do swim it. If you do, know this: there is no lifeguard and you swim at your own risk. Enter carefully, stay close to shore, never swim alone. The tub gives you all the cold you need. The lough gives you the story.
We keep evening hours on purpose: the light over the lough is half the point.
Glencar Lough carpark, Glencar, Co. Leitrim. Beside the teaSHED, at the start of the waterfall walk.
Togs, ideally already on under your clothes. That is nearly it. We will have the fire.
Booking is the sure way in. Walk-ins are welcome when there is room, but bookings take priority and evenings fill. Book at sprucesauna.as.me.
You can cancel up to 3 hours before your session. No charge, no fuss; you only pay when you arrive anyway.
Under-18s are welcome with an adult. No unaccompanied minors.
You can, at your own risk. It is open water with no lifeguard. Enter carefully, stay near the shore and never swim alone. The cold tub is there if you would rather keep your plunge simple.
At the sauna, when you arrive. Cash or card, both grand. There is no online payment.
Even better. The barrel is snug under its roof, the plunge was cold anyway, and the waterfall is at its best after rain. Some of the finest sessions happen in weather you would not walk the dog in.