Leticia on Audio Tales – 20th February 2019

Leticia: Ireland is the only country in Europe left without a nudist beach. It seems like it’s kind of a taboo still in our society.

Dan: My name is Dan Moynihan, and what you’ve just heard is the voice of Leticia. Leticia is a naturist originally from Spain, but has been living in Ireland for the past number of years. I’ve always been interested in how we perceive nudity in Ireland. Like most of us, I wouldn’t be exactly going out of my way to be seen naked.

Dan: She invited me to join her on a naturist day out with some other members of the association on a secluded beach in Wicklow on a clear October morning. Leticia kindly drove me down along with another naturist named Clive. Leticia is in her forties with deep brown eyes and short brown hair. She quickly comes across as incredibly outgoing, intelligent, and extremely friendly. We eventually get to a secluded road near the beach. We get out of the car, meet Philip, another naturist who has been waiting for us, and we make our way down a trail before getting to an opening which overlooks the sea. I have to admit, it’s an incredible view.

Leticia: This is Magheramore Beach in County Wicklow, and it’s a very sunny day, a little bit chilly, around 10 degrees, 9, 10 degrees, which is actually my lowest limit. So in my opinion, between 20 degrees and 10 degrees, it’s quite comfortable to be naked if you are moving. But underneath 10 degrees is already chilly. It’s still a little bit chilly. Let’s go to Magherabeg. I think so.

Philip: If that tide is coming in. We’ll end up just here. And if anybody else comes, then we’ll have to pack up.

Leticia: Yes.

Dan: Philip was right. The tide was coming in. And to be honest, I was thankful that I might be a degree or 2 warmer by the time I’d be taking off my padded jacket, never mind the rest of my clothes. So we made our way to the next beach, Magherabeg. We had to make our way through 2 fields with makeshift paths between bushes and climb over a short barbed wire fence. This gives you an idea of how secluded the beach is. I walked with Leticia, and I asked her what it was that made her become involved in naturism.

Leticia: I suppose the first time I was naked in public was in a sauna in Germany. And Germany is full of saunas where you can go to different temperatures, steaam rooms, and they might have a pool for naked swimming. So it’s part of a wellness business for them. Of course, I was thinking, I don’t look good enough to be naked, which is just absurd. That’s the wrong approach. You don’t have to think like that. You want to enjoy yourself. You want to be free yourself. Just don’t think of other people. Just be naked in this environment where you feel protected because other people are naked, and they are there for the same reasons how you are.

Dan: You shouldn’t have to worry about what other people think.

Leticia: Yes.

Dan: Was that a problem with, like, friends and family for you when you first started? Or was it…

Leticia: Well, when my friends and family well, my family, yes. But my friends don’t go naked with me. So, of course, it’s a problem for many people. Like, they don’t want to be seen by others. Like, too much information. That could be the the case for some people. And many people in Ireland go anonymously, naked abroad. So they feel they can relax abroad when they think nobody knows them. I understand that. I understand that. Yes. But okay. You think it’s good for you, so just do it. Yeah. Be naked.

Dan: Just be comfortable in who you are.

Leticia: Yes. Yes.

Dan: Leticia’s partner is also a naturist, so this isn’t an issue. However, one difficulty she tells me is how she has to keep this part of her life somewhat separate to her 2 children’s lives. For example, she doesn’t want the parents of her children’s friends to have a negative opinion of her that would prevent her children playing with their friends. I found this a sad example of how society can sometimes cast people in such a negative light, as well as an example of how nudity is portrayed by sections of Irish society. As we continued on our walk, I decided to ask her about the various events she organizes for the association.

Leticia: We hire out swimming pools. So we have, at the moment, a pool in Ballsbridge, Dublin City Centre. We also hire out in Tipperary, Ballinasloe, Monaghan, sometimes Wicklow Town.

Dan: Any idea on the number of memberships that you’d have?

Leticia: We have around 250 with growing tenancy. So soon, we’ll have around 300 members.

Dan: I was a bit taken aback by this figure, especially given the fact that there was only 4 of us, including myself, thus far for this event. However, I will concede that this wasn’t exactly the warmest time of year. I wanted to ask Leticia why she feels that it’s important to be in a group while being naked and not just be naked on your own on the beach.

Leticia: Since 2017, there’s this legal act on sexual offenses that is different from the past. So now the mere exposure of genitalia is not an offense. So you have to have an intention to cause alarm, distress, fear, or sexual acts in public. This is an offense, but not just being naked. But people still don’t feel very secure, I suppose, or safe if they go on their own. So it does make sense to be in a group. Safety in numbers. Also, once you have this idea of, you like to be naked, so you feel liberated, then, of course, you tend to want to meet all the like minded people. And so that’s why it’s a social thing. It’s a club. And we need club activities. And the more the merrier.

Dan: This particular beach meetup is actually one of the more conventional events that Leticia has organized for the association. She tells me how she’s organized a naked dining event in the past and how members of the association will be flying to Dusseldorf later this year to enjoy the saunas that Germany has to offer. She tells me more about some of the events that are planned for the association.

Leticia: We’ve also been to Dalkey Island. The ferryman, he starts to work at 10 AM. So we took the very first possible trip, and they were there until some other people arrived. So we had to go when we thought it was getting too full. So you don’t want to scare off people.

Dan: I was hoping that there wouldn’t be any people to scare off on this beach, and thankfully, it seemed as secluded as Leticia had said. We arrived at a small stream on the beach and made our way over it. Speaker: I’m here now. Now, one last hurdle, I guess.

Dan: The whole area is breathtakingly scenic. The beach spans a mile of golden sand and the Atlantic Ocean looks surprisingly inviting for this time of year. We make our way along the beach over to 2 beach chairs we had spotted in the distance, seemingly left behind by previous beachgoers.

Philip: Yeah. Well, they left their litter here as well as the chairs. Speaker: Wow. Anyone for Coke, more than too late.

Dan: The group had grown to 5 by now with 2 late arrivals. 2 men, 1 in his thirties and the other in his late fifties.

Leticia: First time here. Wow. And you’ve made your way. I’m impressed.

Dan: The lack of female presence started to become much more noticeable. However, this is something Leticia works hard at within the association, trying to encourage women to join as well as younger people in general. But I’m far the youngest at the age of 23, and she’s the only woman at this event.

Dan: As the group begins to strip off, I ask Leticia what the benefits are that she’s felt from naturism.

Leticia: Physical and mental benefits. Well, so for example, the sauna in general, this contrast between heat and cold that boosts your immune system. And I would say naked swimming in Ireland is the same probably because it’s quite cold. You go out, so you have to keep yourself warm inside. So your body, is benefiting from that.

Dan: At this stage, myself and Leticia are the only ones left clothed. And I have to admit, it takes a moment to try and adjust to being in a naked environment. You’re being overly cautious the way your eye line is, doing your best not to come across strange to those around you, all the while trying to convince yourself that this is just an everyday occurrence and nothing fazes you whatsoever about the situation. I wouldn’t have thought of myself as being someone who’s overly confident about their body. And Leticia explains to me that I shouldn’t think like this and just to try and be comfortable.

Leticia: People, attach too much significance to the body in a physical way. Well, if you think of that, we are just animals. We are just all the same. We were born naked, as people say. So why do you have to attach some sense of shame to the body? And why is there an idea of beauty or worth attached to the body? Like, somebody would be better looking than other people. Why should that be a difference? We are all the same. There is dignity in every person. I don’t understand why there should be a difference and why should people be body ashamed for that. You are the way you are, and you’re as as important as a person as anybody else. It doesn’t matter how you look. So that’s why naturism is for everyone regardless of, we say shape, size, color, age, race, all that. And you feel free. You feel mentally free. It’s all about body acceptance.

Dan: At this stage, the group is making their way towards the sea.

Leticia: Are you going already? Wow. Are you okay. Okay. Now where are you?

Dan: So now it was time for us to join them.

Leticia: Let’s go down.

Dan: Yeah. Let’s do it. Yeah. So there I was on a secluded beach in Wicklow. About to take off my clothes and be naked with a group of people I’d only met about an hour ago. However, it was actually surprisingly easy to get undressed. I suppose there was a certain amount of adrenaline running through me. There was no going back at this stage. So I stripped down. Leticia’s already got in the water. Feeling a bit nervous. And I think it was pretty understandable to be nervous in such an environment. But, you know, after a while, you begin to relax. So after a moment of taking it all in, I made my way into the ocean. Oh, it’s not too bad actually. It was freezing. But after the initial shock, your body does start to adjust to the temperature. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a German sauna, but I guess it would have to do. But I couldn’t help but feel the mental benefits Leticia had been speaking about. There was something wholesome about being naked in the ocean, an element of being closer to nature, to be overly cliche about the whole experience. Leticia has definitely opened my eyes to a different view to nudity and body positivity. I can definitely understand the benefits one can get from the experience of being naked in such an environment. Regardless of your attitude to nudity, I think we can all appreciate what Leticia is promoting. And that is to be comfortable with your body and to be happy with who you are, no matter what your shape, your weight, or size is. I think that is something that we can all take on board in our lives.