Achill Island in the west of IrelandAchill Island, County Mayo, is Ireland's largest island and lies off the north-west coast on the Atlantic seaboard. Achill Island is joined to the Irish mainland by a bridge at Achill Sound and measures some 20km east to west and about 18km north to south. Achill's rugged landscape has attracted visitors since the first hotel was opened in 1830. Mountain peaks on Achill Island include Slievemore (672m) and Croaghaun (668m), the north-west face of which also boasts the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Achill Island boasts no fewer than five EU Blue Flag beaches, including Keem Bay (pictured, right). |
Keem Bay, Achill Island, Ireland |
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Watersports on Keel Lake, Achill Island |
Outdoor activities on Achill Island, IrelandAchill Island's natural beauty has long attracted outdoor activities enthusiasts, from hillwalkers and anglers to the modern-day surfers, windsurfers and cyclists. Trawmore strand at Keel, a glorious 3km long beach, offers surfing and sea-kayaking with a number of vendors providing equipment hire from the beach. Keel lake (pictured, left) is a large, shallow-bottomed freshwater lake that is ideal for novice windsurfers, canoists and kayakers. Equipment hire and tuition is available locally.
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Sea angling off Achill Island, IrelandThe waters around Achill Island are a paradise for sea anglers, with mackeral, pollack, wrasse, cod, ling, ray and sea trout common to the local waters. Achill holds the records (both men and women) for the heaviest fish caught in Irish waters. A number of local boats are available for hire for sea angling excursions, while shore fishing is popular at a number of locations on Achill Island.
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Red gunard caught off Achill Island |
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Achill Island donkey |
Achill Island - an inspirational retreatAchill Island's remote and rugged landscape has attracted a number of artists and writers seeking solitude and inspiration. The Belfast-born artist Paul Henry first visited Achill in about 1910 and stayed for nine years, painting landscapes and local scenes such as 'Launching the Currach' and 'The Potato Diggers'. The American artist Robert Henri was so taken with Achill Island that he purchased Corrymore House and returned every summer between 1924 and 1928, painting mainly portraits of local children. The English novelist Graham Greene was a regular visitor to the Achill Island cottage of his lover, Catherine Walston, at Dooagh during the late 1940s. And the Nobel prize-winning German auther Heinrich Boll was a regular visitor to Achill Island from the mid-1950s to the 1970s.
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