Around The Island
A combination of walking and cycling is the most pleasurable way to get to know Achill, although the island can be fairly strenuous going (hitching is a viable alternative, especially in season when the island is full of visitors). The road that encircles the island has now been signposted as the "Atlantic Drive". After a left turn, you'll follow a narrow inlet of the sea for three miles, before coming to KILDOWNET , where the well-preserved tower of the fifteenth-century Carrickdaunet Castle , once owned by the redoubtable Grace O'Malley, gazes out at the mainland (keys from the house next door). There are also the ruins of a twelfth-century church. As you round the corner of the island, the view of the ocean opens up, and the massive shoulder of Minaun , Achill's third highest mountain, appears. The road then winds and undulates its way further west through the villages of Keel and Dooagh to the strand at Keem , whose exotic appearance defies its geography on the north western fringe of Europe. The north of the island is dominated by the imposing Slievemore on whose grey slopes a dolmen and a group of standing stones have weathered the Atlantic winds for nearly four thousand years, while nearby is the island's deserted village, once used as a base for summer herdsmen.
Your Tip for Achill Island
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