Croaghaun Hike, Achill Island

We really wanted to revisit Achill Island, so we headed there this morning to walk up Croaghaun and then to check out other areas of Achill.

It was dry, cool and windy but there was a bit of sun, so this was a great day for a walk up a mountain.  The details of the route were sketchy, so we headed off, up some sheep trails.  I think we took the steepest route possible, but we think it ended up being shorter than the route we were supposed to be following.  There is no hiking trail on this mountain, you just have to make your way up.

Our route dipped into a bowl and then went up very steeply.  Just when we thought we would gain a ridge, there was yet another ridge behind it.  The ground was fairly heavy heather and grass, and there was also a lot of moss with heather and a lot of rock in places.

It felt like the summit would never be gained, but we made it up in an hour and a half.  The views from the summit were absolutely spectacular, as the mountain drops off sharply to the Atlantic.  We had just fantastic light up there for photos, as a lot of high cloud kept on coming in from the east.

However, it was so windy on the summit that we couldn’t go very near to the edge.  After taking a zillion photos, we retreated down the summit to some large rocks and sat out of the wind behind a huge rock that was wedged upright.  We guzzled our tea and then started our steep descent.

We could make really good time on moss and heather as it is not slippery, it is very spongy.  In areas of grass and heather it was slower going as it was slippery.  We decided to take a route down, that we think, was supposed to be our route up.  It was very steep and a bit longer, but it took us less than an hour to descend.

Our Destination:  Croaghaun

View from Summit

Keem Strand from Summit

Views from Summit

Then we drove a short distance to the west end of the island to Keem Strand, a lovely beach in a beautiful bay.  After we left Keem, we stopped at a pub for a coffee and the parking lot was full.  This was puzzling, as it was 1:30 in the afternoon, i.e., after lunch time.

There was an old guy sitting at the bar having a pint, so we sat beside him and I asked him what was going on.  Well, this was a big day for the Catholic kids as it was confirmation day, which only happens every two or three years, and all the kids on this side of Achill are confirmed together.  The other half of the island are also confirmed together in their local church.  The Bishop comes from Galway to perform both ceremonies.

Then the party starts in the pub, where a tonne of relatives and whatnot come bearing gifts and they have a big lunch in the function room.  This guy was very friendly and before we left, he told us to make sure we turned right just after Ted’s Bar and to take the road all the way around the Atlantic coast, and then we would end up coming to the main road, right before the bridge to the mainland.  He told us not to turn off, just follow the road, but that it is very steep, narrow and with sharp drop offs.

Were we ever glad we sat with him, as the drive was out of this world and we just loved it.  The views were stunning and there were a few historical sites along the way.

Views on the Atlantic Drive

Grace O'Malley Fort

Prior to taking the scenic route, we stopped at the Deserted Village, which sits at the foot of Slievmore.  It does not seem to be known why the village was deserted, but it is likely linked to the land being sold by the O’Donnels of Newport to the Achill Mission Estate, which purchased 2/3rds of Achill.  The Achill Mission Estate ran into financial difficulties and the land was ceded and eventually distributed to the people of Slievemore.  The descendants used to return to the village to pasture their cattle in the summer, staying in the abandoned houses, this was termed booleying.  Apparently, this was the last area in Ireland where booleying was carried out, as the practise continued into the 1940s.

While we were walking down the road of the Deserted Village, a sheep dog came running by and his owner was in a car driving behind.  We moved out of the way to let the car by and then we heard the man in the car giving various whistles, to which the dog responded.  After one particular whistle, the dog took off across the bog like a rocket.  Then he responded to another whistle and stopped.

The car had stopped, so when we walked up we told the guy his dog travels like lightening.  A long conversation ensued and we found it difficult to move on as the talking would not stop.  The old guy said he is too old to run after the sheep, so the dog does it.

We loved Achill Island, it is our favourite of all the areas we visited in Co. Mayo.  Achill is gorgeous and the locals are very friendly, if anyone ever finds themselves in Co. Mayo, you must visit Achill.  It was also recommended to us by a café staffer in Donegal, and we can understand why.  We planned on visiting Achill to hike the two highest mountains on the island, which we did, but Achill is so much more.

Tomorrow is a travel day, and it will be our longest, as we are heading down to the south of Co. Kerry, very near to Co. Cork.  We are skipping a huge chunk of the west coast of Ireland, but I wanted to explore the less visited Beara Peninsula, while hoping to hike a bit in Co. Kerry and visit the far west of Co. Cork.

The History of Ireland will continue tomorrow night as we will not have much content, given that tomorrow is a driving day.