Hidden Gem in County Mayo

Clare Island stands at the mouth of Clew Bay off the coast of County Mayo, a substantial island of approximately 16 square kilometres accessible by ferry from Roonagh Quay that combines dramatic Atlantic coastal scenery, an important medieval tower house associated with the pirate queen Grace O'Malley, a Cistercian abbey with remarkable medieval painted ceiling and the finest sea cliffs in County Mayo in one of the most scenically and historically rewarding island visits available on the west coast of Ireland. The tower house at the harbour is associated with Gráinne Mhaol, Grace O'Malley, the sixteenth-century pirate chieftain and sea queen whose control of the maritime routes of Clew Bay and her defiance of English authority made her one of the most celebrated figures in Irish history. Grace O'Malley's career as a pirate, merchant and political leader, culminating in her famous meeting with Queen Elizabeth I in 1593, has made her the subject of numerous books, plays and cultural celebrations, and Clare Island as the seat of her power is a place of considerable cultural pilgrimage. The Cistercian abbey on the island contains medieval wall paintings of remarkable quality, depicting figures, animals and decorative motifs in a freshness of colour that survives from the medieval period in unusually good condition. The abbey was the burial place of Grace O'Malley and the combination of the painted interior and the O'Malley connection makes it one of the most historically resonant small religious buildings in Connacht.

Downpatrick Head on the north Mayo coast near Ballycastle is one of the most dramatic coastal headlands in Ireland, a flat-topped promontory of horizontal limestone dropping vertically to the sea in cliffs of considerable height, with the extraordinary detached sea stack of Dún Briste standing immediately offshore in a position that makes it one of the most dramatic natural features on the Wild Atlantic Way. The stack, approximately 45 metres high and completely separated from the headland by the collapse of the connecting rock arch in 1393, supports a green summit of grass visible from the clifftop above in a scene of extraordinary geological drama. The name Downpatrick Head derives from the association with St Patrick, who is said to have banished a pagan chieftain called Crom Dubh from the headland by causing the earth to open and swallow him. The blowhole in the headland floor, through which the sea surges in rough weather with considerable noise and spray, is associated in local tradition with the swallowed pagan below. The remains of a Napoleonic-era signal tower on the headland provide the historical military heritage dimension. The coastal scenery of the north Mayo coast visible from Downpatrick Head in both directions is among the finest in Ireland, the horizontal limestone cliffs extending westward toward the Belmullet Peninsula and the great mountain of Nephin Beg visible in the distance on clear days creating a panorama of the wild and empty north Mayo landscape that is one of the most powerful available on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Keem Bay at the western tip of Achill Island in County Mayo is widely regarded as the most beautiful beach in Ireland, a small arc of brilliant white sand enclosed beneath the dramatic shark's fin profile of Croaghaun mountain and accessible only by the spectacular clifftop road that provides the most dramatic beach approach drive available in Ireland. The combination of the beach quality, the extraordinary mountain setting, the clear turquoise water and the complete absence of commercial development creates a beach experience of exceptional beauty and wildness in one of the most remote accessible corners of the Wild Atlantic Way. The beach faces northwest into the Atlantic Ocean and the clarity of the water, combined with the white sand beneath, creates the turquoise colour characteristic of the finest Atlantic beaches in conditions that belong more to the Caribbean in popular imagination than to the west coast of Ireland. The water is cold throughout the year but the beach provides excellent swimming in calm conditions during the summer months when the Atlantic is at its warmest. The road to Keem Bay from the Achill Sound end of the island traverses the full dramatic length of Achill, the clifftop sections above the Atlantic providing a driving experience of remarkable scenic intensity. The combination of the road journey and the beach destination creates one of the most complete and most rewarding coastal experiences available on the Wild Atlantic Way.