Achill Mission ( The Colony )

One of Achill's most famous historical sites is that of the Achill Mission or ' the Colony ' at Dugort.

McGregor Blacker agreed to sub-let of land belonging to the Irish Church Mission Society on Achill to Boycott, who moved there in 1854.

Both Boycott and McGregor Blacker were involved in a protracted dispute with Mr Carr, the agent for the Achill Church Mission Estate, from whom McGregor Blacker leased the lands, and Mr O ' Donnell, Carr's bailiff.

Kildamhnait on the south east coast of Achill is named after St. Damhnait, or Dymphna, who founded a church there in the 16th century.

There was also a branch to Achill Island branching off after the station, but this closed in 1937.

Although he seems to have ceased experimenting with his technique after he left Achill and his range is limited, he created a large body of fine images whose familiarity is a testament to its influence.

The bridge from Achill Island to the mainland is named after him.

It lies on the east side of Achill Island and is the first settlement one reaches after crossing the Michael Davitt Bridge, a swing bridge that joins Achill Island to Corraun Peninsula on the mainland.

Achill has a long history of human settlement and there is evidence that Achill was inhabited as many as 5, 000 years ago.

The ' Colony ' was very successful for a time and regularly produced a newspaper called the ' Achill Missionary Herald '.

In 1894, the Westport-Newport railway line was extended to Achill Sound.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was much migration to Achill from other parts of Ireland, particularly Ulster, due to the political and religious turmoil of the time.

In Achill, as in many areas of Ireland, a system called ' Rundale ' was used for farming.

Boolying was also carried out in other areas of Achill, including Annagh on Croaghaun mountain and in Curraun.

It was during his early trips to Achill prior to the outbreak of World War I that Henri painted extensively and is reputed to have done portraits of almost all the children in Dooagh village.

Denis Gallagher was born in Currane, by Clew Bay, facing Achill Island, County Mayo in 1922.

After receiving an inheritance, Boycott was persuaded by his friend, Murray McGregor Blacker, a local magistrate, to move to Achill Island, a large island off the coast of County Mayo.

Boycott was involved in a number of disputes during his time on Achill.

All Irish territory was considered friendly to ' Achill ', and hostile to their opponents.

After 159 years of faithful service the lighthouse was taken out of service on 28 September 1965, replaced by the modern Achillbeg Island lighthouse on the south side of Achill Island.

Following the closure of the Achill line in 1937, there was little work for them to do, but one served on the Claremorris to Ballina branch for a time, another was occasionally used between Portarlington and Athlone and a third member of the class ended its days as a stationary boiler at Broadstone depot. The others seem to have found their way by degrees to Athlone and Broadstone.

Acaill Bheag was evacuated in 1965 and the inhabitants were settled on the main ( Achill ) island and nearby mainland.

Plans to build a cable-car link across the very dangerous Bullsmouth Channel, one of the strongest currents in Europe separating the island from Achill had been under discussion since 1996, but have now been abandoned due to the high estimated cost and the money was given towards the Achill bridge redevelopment.

In 2008 the paper was the first to expose the controversial fundraising activities of the House of Prayer run by self proclaimed visionary Christina Gallagher in Achill, Co Mayo.

He moved to Achill Island in 1913 to write, learn Irish and ( like others of the Gaelic Revival ) gain an appreciation of Irish culture, as perceived by many of his contemporaries to uniquely exist on the western seaboard.

Young people from Achill spent their summers work in Scotland.

Achill Island lies in the Barony of Burrishoole, in the territory of ancient Umhall ( Umhall Uactarach and Umhall Ioctarach ), that originally encompassed an area extending from the Galway / Mayo border to Achill Head in Co. Mayo.

Since 1991, several thousand students from 21 countries have come to Achill to study and participate in ongoing excavations.

* FAI U19 player ) and Manchester United defender Sean McGinty's parents hail from Achill

* podcasts. ie In this series of podcasts on Mayo's Heritage you can hear an excerpt from John Mc Hugh's Heritage Tour of Achill ( ref Programme 6 & Programme 8 )

This road is a basic 2 lane road, and suffers from chronic congestion, particularly in the summer months when thousands of tourists have to negotiate the bottleneck on route to neighbouring Westport and Achill.

From the southwest part of the bay eastwards are Louisburgh, Lecanvey, Murrisk, and Westport ; north of Westport is Newport, and westwards from there lies Mulranny, gateway to Achill.

Tryon chose the nickname ' Achill admiral ' for himself, from the name of a small island midway between the two bases.

Carrickildownet Castle, Achill Island, from the road

Achill Sound is also the name of the waterway separting Achill Island from the Irish mainland.

The Michael Davitt Bridge is a swing bridge in County Mayo, Ireland that crosses from the Corraun Peninsula to Achill Island.

According to him, the myths arose from definite local ( especially atmospheric and aquatic ) phenomena, and represented the annually recurring processes of nature as the acts of gods and heroes ; thus, in Achill ( 1853 ), the Trojan War is the winter conflict of the elements in that district.

Rails to Achill ( 2001 ) describes the history of the Westport to Achill railway, which ran from 1894 to 1937.

Achill Island () in County Mayo is the largest island off the coast of Ireland, and is situated off the west coast.

Early human settlements are believed to have been established on Achill around 3000 BC.

The parish of Achill also includes the Curraun peninsula.

There are between 500-600 native Irish speakers in Achill parish.

It is believed that at the end of the Neolithic Period ( around 4000 BC ), Achill had a population of 500 – 1, 000 people.

Megalithic tombs ( see picture, right ) and promontory forts testifying to this can be seen at Slievemore, along the Atlantic Drive and on Achill Beg Island.

Grace O ' Malley's Castle Kildamhnait Castle is a 15th century tower house associated with the O ' Malley Clan, who were once a ruling family of Achill.

The train provided a great service to Achill, but it also fulfilled an ancient prophecy.

Brian Rua O ' Cearbhain had prophesied that ' carts on iron wheels ' would carry bodies into Achill on their first and last journey.

In 1894, the first train on the Achill railway carried the bodies of victims of the Clew Bay Drowning.

The Kirkintilloch Burning Disaster in 1937 fulfilled the second part of the prophecy, when the bodies of ten victims were carried by rail to Achill.

Nowadays, most of the young people of Achill continue in school until they are 17 or 18, in one of the two post-primary schools and gain employment in modern high tech companies in Ireland and abroad.