Ireland's islands uncovered: Achill Island basks in the nostalgia of seaside holidays
The beautiful coast of Achill Island, County Mayo
“We're a bit like Vivaldi here,” says Elizabeth Barrett as she ushers me to my seat. “There’s four seasons in one day.” Elizabeth is the owner of Bervie, a homely restaurant and hotel by the sea on Achill Island. The corridors are lined with photographs and a fire crackles in a cosy lounge, warming up a damp evening. May has brought wintry weather to the island. I have never been here before, but my trip will soon feel like a walk down memory lane.
Achill is the country’s biggest offshore island and the most populated, with 2,500 residents. Tourism is the bread and butter of the economy and has been since Victorian times, when the Westport–Achill Sound railway line opened in 1895. The railway closed in 1937, but the track has become the Great Western Greenway. In the 1950s and 1960s, creatives came here, most notably the German writer Heinrich Böll and singer John Lennon. By the 1990s, Achill had become one of the best spots for a family holiday.
Part of Achill’s popularity is its accessibility. Achill is only an hour’s drive from Westport, across the 225-metre-long, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Michael Davitt Bridge. Visitors and residents are not reliant on ferry timetables and favourable seas to access the mainland. Crossing onto the island, the first thing I notice are the mountains. Croaghaun is the tallest, at 688m, and pins the westernmost edge of the island into the Atlantic Ocean. Slievemore dominates the horizon to the north and Minaun holds firm in the centre, sheltering Keel Bay.
The weather is predictably unpredictable. Opening the curtains in my room in the Achill Cliff House Hotel, I’m greeted with a dark morning. Clouds wash over the peak of Minaun, chasing the blue skies away; my planned cycle around the island will have to wait. Keem Bay was already one of the best known beaches in Ireland before it starred in The Banshees of Inisherin movie, but I hope the morning rain has deterred visitors as I hop in the car and drive west across the island.
The road rises and falls in a steady rhythm along the coast; waves beating the shore below to my left and the wind whistling across the hilltops above to my right. Basking sharks are in the area and they’re often in the sheltered waters of the bay early in the morning. I join a handful of other tourists not put off by the misty May weather; rain is part and parcel of an Irish summer, after all.
A light drizzle dances on the shifting colours in the bay, drifting from summery blues to autumn greens as woolly sheep graze around me. Being by the sea has always allowed my mind to drift away, but I’m quickly brought back to the present by ripples on the water that send my eyes darting around the bay. Unfortunately, the early bird did not catch the shark this time; no confirmed sightings of the enormous creatures were made.
Achill Island basks in the nostalgia of seaside holidays, yet one of our oldest coastal traditions is one of the newest attractions here: Seaweed baths. A grey afternoon by the sea feels like an apt time to dip my toes in the nourishing waters. I visit Achill Island Seaweed Baths, where fresh seaweed is collected at low tide at Golden Strand on the island’s north coast. The seaweed has been soaking in hot water in the tub, softening it and releasing the viscous alginate inside.
The mixture of hot water and the almost aloe-vera-like texture of the alginate creates a reviving tonic that can supposedly help with skin issues and aches and pains. I lie in the bath, listen to the rain outside, and disappear for an hour of calm.
Happy to have found a way not to let the weather disrupt my day too much, I pop downstairs from my hotel room to the restaurant. By 7pm, the dining room is full and it’s showtime for the wait staff.
I sit at a window seat, looking out at the cliffs that give the hotel its name, and flick through the menu of classic Irish dishes landing on the Clare Island salmon served with creamed leeks. The restaurant is a well-oiled machine; the waitresses know all the regulars’ orders and offer up advice to newcomers wanting to see the island. My meal arrives with heaped side dishes of vegetables and potato gratin that even impress the French couple sitting across from me.
The weather has improved by the following morning, but the forecast makes me reach for the car keys again and I set off to drive the narrow road up Minaun.
One of the benefits of being connected to the mainland by a bridge is that it’s easier to build infrastructure here and I’m impressed that remote parts of the island, like this mountain, are so accessible.
Sea winds roar in from the Atlantic, tear up the cliffs, and rip across the exposed top of the mountain as I walk the 1.5km boggy stretch from my car to the statue of the Virgin Mary at the summit.
Surrounding the monument are stacks of stones that resemble miniature cairns. An old trail once crossed this mountain and was used by funeral processions to carry coffins to the graveyard. The pallbearers would take a break at the summit of Minaun and build stone stacks to rest the coffin, so as not to lay the body on the ground. The stacks could not be reused and different stones had to be used each time. Each stack represents a person’s last visit to the top of the mountain.
The clouds break as I drive along the northern edge of the island and back into Keel, where I leave my car for the evening and stroll to Bervie in the village.
There’s a classic, award-winning menu and the beautifully plated goat’s cheese tartlet is my pick. The crispness of the pastry and sweetness of the fig chutney balance the tang of the cheese. There’s a choice of pubs around the corner from the restaurant and I settle on The Basking Shark for my nightcap. The tiny pub feels like a throwback; there’s no TV and no music; all that can be heard is the chatter of people at the tightly packed tables around the bar. There’s no more than 10 other people in here and the atmosphere is buzzing.
Achill feels like a trip back in time, when holidaying in Ireland was the norm, with families loading up the car for a drive across the country for a week by the sea.
The island has longstanding businesses and staff from these glory days ensuring the welcome is genuine, while the ease and convenience of getting around makes it tempting to return time and time again.
- Stay at the Achill Cliff House Hotel in Keel, where you’re a short walk from all the amenities.
- Reserve a table in the conservatory at Bervie for dinner to look out at the cliffs while you eat.
- Pre-book a slot at Achill Island Seaweed Baths and experience this age-old tradition.
- Late summer and early autumn can be a great time to visit Achill Island.
- Find out more about Ireland’s islands at discoverireland.ie
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
