A hive of activity in peak season, this small Irish village has an eerie, deserted feel to it once all of the tourists head home.
According to the 2022 Census, only around 2,345 people live on Achill Island. The number of people on the island jumps significantly during peak months, with tourists and holiday home owners spending more time there.
In the peak months of July and August, the island sees a crazy surge of visitors, with highs of between 19 and 25,000 visitors on a given day.
With its Blue Flag beaches, like the breathtaking Keem Bay, scenic drives, and the popularity boost from The Banshees of Inisherin, the island is one of the top spots to visit in Ireland, but when all of the tourists leave, the island suddenly becomes eerily quiet.
Bustling in the summer to empty for the rest of the year – Dooagh
Achill Island is home to a number of small villages, the main ones for visiting tourists being Keel, Dooagh, Dugort, Slievemore, and Achill Sound.
Dooagh gets its popularity thanks to its proximity to Keem Bay. Located just past Dooagh, Keem Bay is located in the west of Achill Island, and contains the popular Blue Flag beach that is one of the best in Ireland.
Thousands of people visit Keem Bay each year, but outside of peak season, the area becomes a ghost town. Dooagh has a population of just 567 residents.
As such, the town and Keem Bay become quiet and undisturbed for the rest of the year. With this quiet, however, comes a strange, eerie feel to the village.
As one of the most remote places in Ireland, it’s hard not to think of the spooky undertones of being close to alone on a secluded island.
No one around – peaceful or unsettling?
When the tourists leave, Dooagh becomes an undisturbed haven, but can you imagine being one of only a couple of hundred other souls on an entire island?
When it’s just you and the darkness under the sweeping sky full of stars, it’s hard to keep ghost stories and ancient superstitions at bay.
The quiet aside, Achill Island is home to the Deserted Village at Slievemore. Just eight minutes in the car from Dooagh, there are around 100 abandoned and dilapidated homes that detail the harrowed past of Achill.
Through research and archaeological investigation, it’s said that the stone cottages, which stretch out for around one mile, date back to at least the Anglo-Norman period (12th century AD).
The most recent and last activity in these cottages was said to be in the early 20th century, when families would have used them for booleying, also known as transhumance. This was the practice of using different homes in the summer and winter months.
This abandoned village was used for cattle grazing in the summer months. The families would then return to Dooagh in the winter.
While also fascinating and steeped in history, there is something a little unsettling about these abandoned villages from the years of Ireland gone by. You wouldn’t want to catch yourself wandering alone here at night.
Quiet fog – rolling over the island
With Achill Island’s location far out in the Atlantic Ocean, it is prone to sudden and unexpected weather shifts. It’s not uncommon for fog and sea mist to overtake the island.
As such, if you’re visiting outside of the tourist season, so there’s no one around, but all of a sudden a thick fog starts settling in, and clouds start to roll in rapidly around the high sea cliffs, there is a definite ghostly ambience that sends a shiver down even the bravest spines.
Furthermore, outside of the tourist season, many shops and businesses either reduce their hours or close up altogether, so when you’re travelling down isolated roads, there isn’t a soul for miles, and the shops you’re driving past are all closed, it just adds to the feeling of isolation.
With all that being said, Achill Island and its villages take on a whole new personality outside of the busy months. Plus, the weather can be spooky, but also pretty cool to witness.
You get to experience one of Ireland’s best islands without the hustle and bustle of thousands of tourists, and you get to experience the landscape without people dotted all over it. It’s really up to you whether you like to be a part of the throng of crowds, or prefer a bit of solitude.
