title Surfing Achill Island, Oileán Acla, Maigh Eo, Ireland - 8th August 2017 intro 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. imgc7420 Classic Irish bar in Adare imgc7421 More brightly-coloured bars and shops in Adare imgc7423 A derelict mill near Adare imgc7424 Somewhere near Adare imgc7426 Old Ulster Bank in Ballinrobe imgc7427 Fred and Isobel in Óstán Oileán Acla restaurant imgc7429 Fred contemplates his epic pudding imgc7431 Harry at breakfast imgp7397 Mináun View Bar imgp7398 Some abandoned petrol pumps, in Irish tricolour imgp7399 An old hut in Keel imgp7400 A random green cottage imgp7401 Isobel and the boys roam the wide beach imgp7406 Harry runs about imgp7407 By the Keel Strand sign imgp7409 Keel Strand imgp7410 Isobel and Fred check out body-boarding hire imgp7414 Fred's got his gear on imgp7415 Fred and Isobel head down to the beach imgp7426 Isobel's got her own board now imgp7428 A lifeguard looks around imgp7439 Fred pops up for air imgp7448 Isobel looks back imgp7452 The waves crash around imgp7472 Meanwhile, Harry pokes about up in the dunes imgp7473 Harry's extensive sandcastle construction imgp7477 The boarders return imgp7482 Isobel and Fred walk up the beach with Harry imgp7486 The boarders peel of their wetsuits imgp7488 Harry runs around as Fred gets changed imgp7489 Various surf boards at Surf le Tomás imgp7491 Harry climbs a "spider pyramid" imgp7492 Fred and Isobel imgp7494 The road to Slievemore imgp7497 Up in the deserted village of Slievemore imgp7498 Isobel in the deserted village imgp7502 The remains of a cottage imgp7507 Derelict cottages stretch for nearly a mile imgp7514 Harry runs up a hill imgp7515 Green and red lichen on a white marble boulder imgp7516 Isobel looks around in the rain imgp7517 Fred in some ruins imgp7518 We shelter from rain by an abandoned cottage imgp7526 Exploring more ruins imgp7529 The boys find a small tree imgp7532 Fred shows off the tree imgp7536 Isobel explores imgp7542 Below the brooding mountain tops imgp7546 Harry takes a pretty good photo of Fred imgp7548 Blue skies and fluffy clouds imgp7555 A mushroom grows on some poo imgp7564 Derelict house on the way to Dooagh imgp7565 Near Dooagh imgp7570 We visit Trá Nua, or "new beach" at Dooagh imgp7574 The deep scar of a peat trench imgp7575 More scars on the land imgp7576 Isobel looks down on a big mound of peat imgp7587 The turf-cutting landscape of Achill imgp7589 Bags of peat stacked up in the distance imgp7590 Isobel looks at some pampas grass imgp7591 Rhododendrons infest the island imgp7594 Peat mounds and a turf trench on Achill Island imgp7596 Isobel heads off imgp7597 Three mounds of peat briquettes imgp7600 Cyclists head off for a ride imgp7601 The Óstán Oileán Acla, or Achill Island Hotel imgp7602 Achill Island bridge imgp7605 The boys run up the stairs imgc7432 The boys make a film imgc7433 Fred and Harry make a stop-motion film imgc7437 A derelict garden centre imgc7439 A curious crennelated building imgc7440 A derelict building with fake windows imgc7443 We play pool at McLoughlin's, up the road imgc7444 Harry has an unusual cue action going on imgc7447 Fred puts some minifigs on the pool table imgc7451 Inside McLoughlin's bar imgc7453 McLoughlin's bar in Achill imgc7456 Derelict house in Achill imgc7458_01 A bay window in the derelict house imgc7459 Boarded window and wide-open door imgc7460 Decaying green paint on a wall imgc7462 Another derelict room with peeling paint imgc7464 Isobel peers into an abandoned shop imgc7465 Inside the derelict shop, full of stuff imgc7467 The old shop counter is still in place imgc7469 Old posters stuck up in a window imgc7470 Fred sweeps the pavement with some pampas grass imgc7474 Big shiny motorbike outside the Achill SuperValu imgc7475 Fred on Achill bridge imgc7477 Our hotel, as seen from the island imgc7478 Harry plays Top Trumps with Isobel imgc7479 Fred eats sausages and chips agains imgc7480 Harry does a fake grin imgc7483 Patrick and Fred play with interlocking things imgc7490 Harry, Patrick and Fred make a huge snake imgc7492 The boys in the hotel's bar imgc7507 Fred's new chum Caoimhe helps out imgc7508 Meanwhile, some penny-whistle action breaks out imgc7509 There's some clapping from the audience imgc7510 Caoimhe and Harry are still constructing imgc7514 Sinéad plays whistle for the announcer imgc7516 Guitar and whistle imgc7520 Fred and Caoimhe play pool imgc7525 Caoimhe and Fred at the bar imgc7527 Microphone Dan shouts "from Wicklow" again imgc7531 Red-cheeked rambling commentary imgc7532 There's some frantic guitar. From Wicklow! imgc7536 Harry is actually asleep standing up