Classic Irish bar in Adare
Surfing Achill Island, Oileán Acla, Maigh Eo, Ireland - 8th August 2017
We head off from Lios Póil "up the road" to Achill Island, which actually turns out to be around six hours away or more. Once there, we explore the adjacent village of Achill, where the hotel - the Óstán Oileán Acla, or Achill Island Hotel - is based, find some more epic dereliction and enjoy a beer up at McLoughlin's Bar. On the first day, whilst visiting Keel Strand on the other side of Achill Island, Isobel and Fred got for a spot of body-boarding, whilst Harry builds multiple sandcastles up in the dunes. Then we visit the abandoned village of Slievemore up in the foothills before a quick trip to Trá Nua, or New Beach - so named because its sand returned overnight in Easter 2017 after having been washed away during fierce storms in 1984, 33 years before. Finally, on the way back to Achill, we explore some of the modern peat workings that still scour the land. Later, back at the hotel on the second night things are a bit busy in the evening as the scheduled yacht race has been cancelled due to fairly modest winds. After a while, some music breaks out as various people start singing, whilst we meet up with a musical family that plays guitar and penny whistle. Meanwhile, some geezer who apparently commentates on the yachts for local radio hauls out his "mobile PA" and menaces people with it, cajoling songs and music out of them and shouting loudly, whilst getting significantly tipsy and shouting "from Wicklow!" a lot.
next album: A Bike Ride to Mulranny, County Mayo, Ireland - 9th August 2017
previous album: Minard Beach and Ceol Agus Craic, Lios Póil, Kerry - 6th August 2017
More brightly-coloured bars and shops in Adare
A derelict mill near Adare
Somewhere near Adare
Old Ulster Bank in Ballinrobe
Fred and Isobel in Óstán Oileán Acla restaurant
Fred contemplates his epic pudding
Harry at breakfast
Mináun View Bar
Some abandoned petrol pumps, in Irish tricolour
An old hut in Keel
A random green cottage
Isobel and the boys roam the wide beach
Harry runs about
By the Keel Strand sign
Keel Strand
Isobel and Fred check out body-boarding hire
Fred's got his gear on
Fred and Isobel head down to the beach
Isobel's got her own board now
A lifeguard looks around
Fred pops up for air
Isobel looks back
The waves crash around
Meanwhile, Harry pokes about up in the dunes
Harry's extensive sandcastle construction
The boarders return
Isobel and Fred walk up the beach with Harry
The boarders peel of their wetsuits
Harry runs around as Fred gets changed
Various surf boards at Surf le Tomás
Harry climbs a 'spider pyramid'
Fred and Isobel
The road to Slievemore
Up in the deserted village of Slievemore
Isobel in the deserted village
The remains of a cottage
Derelict cottages stretch for nearly a mile
Harry runs up a hill
Green and red lichen on a white marble boulder
Isobel looks around in the rain
Fred in some ruins
We shelter from rain by an abandoned cottage
Exploring more ruins
The boys find a small tree
Fred shows off the tree
Isobel explores
Below the brooding mountain tops
Harry takes a pretty good photo of Fred
Blue skies and fluffy clouds
A mushroom grows on some poo
Derelict house on the way to Dooagh
Near Dooagh
We visit Trá Nua, or 'new beach' at Dooagh
The deep scar of a peat trench
More scars on the land
Isobel looks down on a big mound of peat
The turf-cutting landscape of Achill
Bags of peat stacked up in the distance
Isobel looks at some pampas grass
Rhododendrons infest the island
Peat mounds and a turf trench on Achill Island
Isobel heads off
Three mounds of peat briquettes
Cyclists head off for a ride
The Óstán Oileán Acla, or Achill Island Hotel
Achill Island bridge
The boys run up the stairs
The boys make a film
Fred and Harry make a stop-motion film
A derelict garden centre
A curious crennelated building
A derelict building with fake windows
We play pool at McLoughlin's, up the road
Harry has an unusual cue action going on
Fred puts some minifigs on the pool table
Inside McLoughlin's bar
McLoughlin's bar in Achill
Derelict house in Achill
A bay window in the derelict house
Boarded window and wide-open door
Decaying green paint on a wall
Another derelict room with peeling paint
Isobel peers into an abandoned shop
Inside the derelict shop, full of stuff
The old shop counter is still in place
Old posters stuck up in a window
Fred sweeps the pavement with some pampas grass
Big shiny motorbike outside the Achill SuperValu
Fred on Achill bridge
Our hotel, as seen from the island
Harry plays Top Trumps with Isobel
Fred eats sausages and chips agains
Harry does a fake grin
Patrick and Fred play with interlocking things
Harry, Patrick and Fred make a huge snake
The boys in the hotel's bar
Fred's new chum Caoimhe helps out
Meanwhile, some penny-whistle action breaks out
There's some clapping from the audience
Caoimhe and Harry are still constructing
Sinéad plays whistle for the announcer
Guitar and whistle
Fred and Caoimhe play pool
Caoimhe and Fred at the bar
Microphone Dan shouts 'from Wicklow' again
Red-cheeked rambling commentary
There's some frantic guitar. From Wicklow!
Harry is actually asleep standing up
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Classic Irish bar in Adare
Classic Irish bar in Adare
More brightly-coloured bars and shops in Adare
A derelict mill near Adare
Somewhere near Adare
Old Ulster Bank in Ballinrobe
Fred and Isobel in Óstán Oileán Acla restaurant
Fred contemplates his epic pudding
Harry at breakfast
Mináun View Bar
Some abandoned petrol pumps, in Irish tricolour
An old hut in Keel
A random green cottage
Isobel and the boys roam the wide beach
Harry runs about
By the Keel Strand sign
Keel Strand
Isobel and Fred check out body-boarding hire
Fred's got his gear on
Fred and Isobel head down to the beach
Isobel's got her own board now
A lifeguard looks around
Fred pops up for air
Isobel looks back
The waves crash around
Meanwhile, Harry pokes about up in the dunes
Harry's extensive sandcastle construction
The boarders return
Isobel and Fred walk up the beach with Harry
The boarders peel of their wetsuits
Harry runs around as Fred gets changed
Various surf boards at Surf le Tomás
Harry climbs a 'spider pyramid'
Fred and Isobel
The road to Slievemore
Up in the deserted village of Slievemore
Isobel in the deserted village
The remains of a cottage
Derelict cottages stretch for nearly a mile
Harry runs up a hill
Green and red lichen on a white marble boulder
Isobel looks around in the rain
Fred in some ruins
We shelter from rain by an abandoned cottage
Exploring more ruins
The boys find a small tree
Fred shows off the tree
Isobel explores
Below the brooding mountain tops
Harry takes a pretty good photo of Fred
Blue skies and fluffy clouds
A mushroom grows on some poo
Derelict house on the way to Dooagh
Near Dooagh
We visit Trá Nua, or 'new beach' at Dooagh
The deep scar of a peat trench
More scars on the land
Isobel looks down on a big mound of peat
The turf-cutting landscape of Achill
Bags of peat stacked up in the distance
Isobel looks at some pampas grass
Rhododendrons infest the island
Peat mounds and a turf trench on Achill Island
Isobel heads off
Three mounds of peat briquettes
Cyclists head off for a ride
The Óstán Oileán Acla, or Achill Island Hotel
Achill Island bridge
The boys run up the stairs
The boys make a film
Fred and Harry make a stop-motion film
A derelict garden centre
A curious crennelated building
A derelict building with fake windows
We play pool at McLoughlin's, up the road
Harry has an unusual cue action going on
Fred puts some minifigs on the pool table
Inside McLoughlin's bar
McLoughlin's bar in Achill
Derelict house in Achill
A bay window in the derelict house
Boarded window and wide-open door
Decaying green paint on a wall
Another derelict room with peeling paint
Isobel peers into an abandoned shop
Inside the derelict shop, full of stuff
The old shop counter is still in place
Old posters stuck up in a window
Fred sweeps the pavement with some pampas grass
Big shiny motorbike outside the Achill SuperValu
Fred on Achill bridge
Our hotel, as seen from the island
Harry plays Top Trumps with Isobel
Fred eats sausages and chips agains
Harry does a fake grin
Patrick and Fred play with interlocking things
Harry, Patrick and Fred make a huge snake
The boys in the hotel's bar
Fred's new chum Caoimhe helps out
Meanwhile, some penny-whistle action breaks out
There's some clapping from the audience
Caoimhe and Harry are still constructing
Sinéad plays whistle for the announcer
Guitar and whistle
Fred and Caoimhe play pool
Caoimhe and Fred at the bar
Microphone Dan shouts 'from Wicklow' again
Red-cheeked rambling commentary
There's some frantic guitar. From Wicklow!
Harry is actually asleep standing up