20/05: Achill Island
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
And today's beers are Achill and Clew Bay Sunset.
Achill Island, off the coast of County Mayo (western Ireland) is the largest island off the coast of Ireland. It has a population of around 2,700, is 148 square kilometers and is accessible by a bridge. The island is mountains, peat bog and beautiful beaches.
The view from our bedroom window at the B&B in Newport.
An old abbey just outside of Newport.
The remains of a castle, a few miles fewer down the road.
A view from the castle window and a pretty flower.
Achill Island has miles of rugged coastline.
There weren't a lot of cows on the island but the number of sheep made up for it. Many of them were in fenced off areas and almost as many were in open pastures along side the road.
We only saw a couple of sheep that horns like this guys.
Ruins in "the Deserted Village". There are approximately 80 ruined houses in the village. The houses were built of unmortared stone, which means that no cement or mortar was used to hold the stones together. Each house consisted of just one room and this room was used as a kitchen, living room, bedroom and even a stable. This village is lot to be hundreds of years old.
Looking out at the mountains from one of the beautiful beaches on the island.
After driving cliff side roads you get to an amazing beach. In the 1960's basking sharks were hunted in this bay.
We drove past vast areas where peat is being dug. Plastic bags in the fields was the easiest way to find the fields. As we also saw a lot of stacked peat, we assume that it needs to be dried before it can be packed. We stopped at a cafe for a coffee and they had peat burning in the fireplace.
Achill Island, off the coast of County Mayo (western Ireland) is the largest island off the coast of Ireland. It has a population of around 2,700, is 148 square kilometers and is accessible by a bridge. The island is mountains, peat bog and beautiful beaches.
The view from our bedroom window at the B&B in Newport.
An old abbey just outside of Newport.
The remains of a castle, a few miles fewer down the road.
A view from the castle window and a pretty flower.
Achill Island has miles of rugged coastline.
There weren't a lot of cows on the island but the number of sheep made up for it. Many of them were in fenced off areas and almost as many were in open pastures along side the road.
We only saw a couple of sheep that horns like this guys.
Ruins in "the Deserted Village". There are approximately 80 ruined houses in the village. The houses were built of unmortared stone, which means that no cement or mortar was used to hold the stones together. Each house consisted of just one room and this room was used as a kitchen, living room, bedroom and even a stable. This village is lot to be hundreds of years old.
Looking out at the mountains from one of the beautiful beaches on the island.
After driving cliff side roads you get to an amazing beach. In the 1960's basking sharks were hunted in this bay.
We drove past vast areas where peat is being dug. Plastic bags in the fields was the easiest way to find the fields. As we also saw a lot of stacked peat, we assume that it needs to be dried before it can be packed. We stopped at a cafe for a coffee and they had peat burning in the fireplace.