May 5 - Achill Island and the Drive to Donegal

The day dawned sunny and clear…a real rarity in Ireland.  We headed off to Achill Island, the largest Irish Island.  It is really an island but from the looks of the things it is likely only an island at high tide…the bridge between mainland Ireland and Achill is only a couple of hundred feet. 

After avoiding the road hazards...

we headed to the south part of the island that is supposed to have cliffs and beaches.  We found Kildavnet Pier first,

with Kildownat Castle right next to it. 

A bit further down the road we stopped briefly at Cloughmore pier.  This pier faces another small island and the current between the two was incredible.  We watched as a fishing boat headed out to sea and it was moving at an amazing speed…mainly due to the current.  In fact, at one time it was moving sideways at a pretty fast clip.

We then ended up on The Atlantic Drive (as different from the Wild Atlantic Way we have been following a lot on this trip).  The cliffs along here were spectacular.  It helped that it was sunny so that we could actually see the cliffs, the ocean and the islands and peninsulas beyond. 

The countryside is awash with color, yellow from the gorse and bright pink from the rhododendrons that grow wild here.

We drove through a little town called Dumha Eige, right on the water’s edge.

We eventually made it down to Keel, with it’s really long beach.  We chatted for a while with a gentleman practicing hurling with his son.  We have heard a lot about this game from many different Irishmen so we thought we’d find out a bit more about it. 

The drive to Keem Strand was along some impressive cliffs.

From there we headed across the island to the tiny town of Doogort with its own beach. 

Some research had listed a very unusual attraction, a Faery Trail, in Valley.  So we headed off and eventually found it.  A land owner had a magnificent stand of old gnarled trees and turned it into a tourist attraction, mainly for kids. He set up fairy homes throughout a trail.
 
Looked better in the photos online but it is a fun, rather magical place for children.  And we very much enjoyed the walk.  It had a number of placards that told about the different types of fairies of Irish folklore, so we learned some interesting information.

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More photos of Achill Island
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From there we headed back to “mainland” Ireland on the scenic drive to Donegal.  We stopped briefly at Aughris Head where we had views of its beach...

and the Donegal cliffs beyond.

We also saw some donkeys up close

and a European Stonechat.

It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery.  Wish we had more sunny days like this in Ireland.