Achill Isle House
+2 photosAbout Achill Isle House
Achill Isle House is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3-star b&b in Achill Island, on the Mayo coast, listed on Fáilte Ireland’s official register of quality-assured accommodation. It is a smaller, owner-run house of 6 rooms, the kind of place where you deal with the people who actually run it.
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Claim this listingStaying in Achill Island
Ireland’s largest offshore island, joined to the Mayo coast by a bridge and ringed by some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe.
Achill Island sits off the west Mayo coast, connected to the mainland at Achill Sound by the Michael Davitt Bridge, so you can drive straight onto it without a ferry. It is a big island by Irish standards, a patchwork of bog, mountain and Atlantic coastline with villages like Keel, Dooagh and Dugort strung along its western side. The scale of the place is the main draw: broad beaches, real mountains rising straight from the sea, and long stretches of road with barely another car on them.
A B&B on Achill puts you close to that landscape rather than looking at it from a passing car. Keem Bay, a horseshoe of sand tucked beneath steep hills at the island’s western tip, is one of the most photographed beaches in Ireland and a proper swimming spot on a calm day. The Atlantic Drive loops around the island’s southern coast past small pers and cliffs with views back towards Clare Island and Clew Bay, and is as good by bike as by car.
The island carries a lot of history alongside the scenery. The Deserted Village at the foot of Slievemore is a row of some eighty to a hundred abandoned stone cottages, occupied until the mid-1800s and never resettled, and it stands as one of the most striking famine-era sites in the country. Achill was also a favourite subject of the painter Paul Henry, whose work in the early twentieth century did a great deal to fix the island’s bogland and big skies in the Irish imagination.
For walkers, Croaghaun on the island’s far western end has among the highest sea cliffs in Ireland and some of the highest in Europe, though reaching them properly is a serious hillwalk rather than a stroll. Closer to a B&B door, the Great Western Greenway, a traffic-free walking and cycling trail laid along an old railway line, runs all the way from Achill to Westport, so a gentler day on two wheels is just as achievable.
Things to do near Achill Isle House
Keem Bay
A sheltered, cliff-backed cove at Achill’s western tip, Keem is regularly ranked among Ireland’s best beaches and is a genuine swimming spot in summer, with steep hills rising on both sides of the sand. It was once the base for a basking shark fishery, and the old lookout posts above the bay are still visible.
The Atlantic Drive
A signposted scenic route around the southern part of the island, the Atlantic Drive winds along cliffs and inlets with views out to Clare Island and across Clew Bay, taking in small settlements like Dooega along the way. It works equally well as a slow drive or a longer cycle.
The Deserted Village, Slievemore
At the foot of Slievemore mountain, this abandoned settlement of roughly eighty to a hundred stone cottages was lived in until the mid-1800s before being given up, a process the Famine accelerated rather than caused outright. It is one of the most evocative famine-era sites anywhere in Ireland, and free to walk through.
Croaghaun cliffs
Achill’s highest peak, Croaghaun, carries sea cliffs reaching close to 700 metres on its northern face, among the highest in Ireland and Europe. They are only properly seen on a full hillwalk from Keem, best attempted in good weather and with appropriate experience.
The Great Western Greenway
A traffic-free walking and cycling trail built along a disused railway line, the Greenway runs some 42 kilometres from Achill through Mulranny and Newport to Westport, giving an easy, well-signposted way to see a good stretch of the Mayo coast without a car.
Paul Henry and Achill’s landscape painters
The painter Paul Henry spent several years on Achill in the early 1900s, and his stripped-back paintings of bogland, cottages and big Atlantic skies did much to shape how Ireland’s west coast is pictured. His time on the island is still referenced in local galleries and heritage material.
Dooagh and Keel beaches
The villages of Keel and Dooagh sit along a long run of strand on the island’s south side, backed by Minaun cliffs, and are the most convenient beaches for a stay in Achill’s main villages, with easy access and good walking above them.
Getting to Achill Island
Achill is reached by road from Westport or Castlebar via Mulranny, crossing onto the island at Achill Sound over the Michael Davitt Bridge, no ferry required. The nearest airport is Ireland West Airport Knock, roughly an hour and a half away, and Bus Éireann runs a service from Westport out to Achill. A car is the practical way to see the island’s scattered villages and viewpoints, though the Great Western Greenway means a bike is a genuine option too if you are staying a few days.
Booking Achill Isle House direct, and what the rating means
A real, assessed b&b
Achill Isle House holds a 3-star b&b rating under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, assessed against the bedrooms, bathrooms, breakfast and welcome rather than self-declared. It's an independent signal you can trust before you book, separate from any platform's own review score.
No fees, no middleman
Ring the owner, or use the contact details on this page, and arrange the stay with the house rather than through an app. No booking fee added to your bill and no commission taken from the owner, so the room rate you agree is the room rate you pay.
A better stay, direct
Owners answer the questions a booking platform never will: whether the room at the front is quieter, how early breakfast can be served, or where to park for a few days. Speaking to the house directly is how B&Bs in Ireland were booked for decades.
Still deciding where to base yourself? Browse more B&Bs in Mayo.
Check availability at Achill Isle House
Send the owner the details of your stay and they will come back to you directly. No booking fee, no platform in between, just Achill Island on the other end.
Achill Isle House, common questions
Where is Achill Isle House?
Achill Isle House is at Newtown, Keel, Achill Island, Co. Mayo (Eircode F28 FE44). Give the Eircode to your sat-nav to find the door.
How do I book Achill Isle House?
You contact the owner directly, by phone or the enquiry form on this page. DirectBnB adds no booking fee and takes no commission, so you arrange the stay with the house itself and pay the room rate with nothing on top.
What star rating does Achill Isle House have?
Achill Isle House is a Fáilte Ireland approved 3-star b&b under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, and guests rate it 4.8 out of 5 across 28 Google reviews.
Is Achill Isle House suitable for families?
Yes, Achill Isle House is listed as family friendly. Ask the owner directly about room configurations and cots when you book.
How many rooms does Achill Isle House have?
Achill Isle House has 6 rooms. As a smaller, owner-run house it is worth booking ahead, particularly in summer and over weekends.
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