Brittany Ferries has announced a new route linking Cork and Santander in northern Spain.
Starting at the end of April, the service will make two return-sailings a week.
It will be the only ferry service linking Ireland and Spain and is due to go on sale by the end of January.
A new ship will be chartered to serve the route and to deliver an additional weekly return-sailing from Cork to Roscoff.
To be called Connemara, she will follow the economie model that already on some services from the UK to France and Spain.
The ship is currently operating between Italy and Greece and will be chartered from Stena RoRo for an initial period of two years.
She will carry around 500 passengers with space for 195 cars and a small allocation of pet-friendly cabins.
Connemara will also add much needed capacity to the company’s existing France routes, creating more opportunities for short breaks.
The announcement comes as Brittany Ferries celebrates its 40th year in Ireland.
Its Cork to Roscoff route opened on St Patricks Day in 1978.
