Ireland's islands uncovered: Achill Island basks in the nostalgia of seaside holidays

Connected to the mainland by bridge, Ireland’s biggest and most populated island offers sharks, seaweed baths and celebrity lore, plus a chance to step back in time, says Cían Byrne

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.