Ciaran Aherne

A few years ago, a sauna in Ireland usually meant a hotel leisure centre. Then, almost overnight, they were everywhere: barrel saunas on beaches, wood-fired saunas on piers, old horseboxes turned into saunas at harbours, and ice baths at GAA clubs.

It was part of a much bigger shift. Irish people have got into health and exercise in a big way. Sea swimming took off, padel courts started appearing all over the country, and rest and recovery became something people actually plan for, not an afterthought. Saunas and ice baths sit right in the middle of that.

I'm one of those people. Whenever I'm away somewhere in Ireland, one of the first things I look up is the nearest sauna, so I can fit in a sea swim and a sauna while I'm there. It's one of my favourite ways to get to know a place.

Finding them was the hard part. A lot of the best saunas are small, local setups that you'd only stumble across on Instagram, or hear about from someone who lives nearby. There was no single place that listed them all, with what each one has, what it costs and how to book.

So I built one. It started as a tool for myself, to find new saunas to try at the weekend around Cork. Now I want to share it with everyone: every sauna and ice bath in the country, county by county, with the details you actually need before you go.

Away from saunas, I work in marketing. You can read more about my background at ciaranaherne.ie.

It's a work in progress, and that's the point. I want every new sauna to be listed, and every listing to keep getting better, with more information and more photos. The aim is in the name: to make this the best place to find a sauna in Ireland. If you run a sauna or know one we're missing, add it here or get in touch.