Dooagh ( ga, Dumha Acha) is a village located on

Achill Island Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is best known for the nearby Keem Bay, a Blue Flag beach.

Dooagh beach

Between May 2017 and January 2019, Dooagh beach had of golden sand. Previously, the sand was completely washed away in a storm in 1984, leaving a rocky foreshore that remained until the sand was restored by an unusually high tide in April 2017. The new sandy beach was reported as causing an increase in tourism to the village. Dooagh beach washed away for a second time in early 2019.

Transport

Road

Dooagh is located on the R319 regional road.

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

route 440 (Dooagh– Westport–

Ireland West Airport Knock Ireland West Airport ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Mhuire), officially known as Ireland West Airport Knock ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Chnoc Mhuire), is an international airport south-west of Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. The vill ...

) operates once a day on weekdays in each direction. ''Expressway'' route 52 provides an evening journey each way to/from Westport and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Rail

The nearest rail services are at Westport railway station, away. There are several trains a day from Westport to

Dublin Heuston Heuston Station ( ; ga, Stáisiún Heuston; formerly Kingsbridge Station) also known as Dublin Heuston, is one of Dublin's largest railway stations and links the capital with the south, southwest and west of Ireland. It is operated by Iar ...

via Athlone.

Facilities

Dooagh has a number of

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

establishments and self-catering apartments. There are two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, Lourdie's and Gielty's Bar and Restaurant, which sometimes host

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

sessions. The bar and nightclub in the Wavecrest Hotel is open seasonally.

Places of interest

The road to the west of Dooagh leads over Croghaun Mountain to Keem Strand, which has views over

Clew Bay Clew Bay (; ga, Cuan Mó) is a natural ocean bay in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick to the south and the Nephin Range mountains of North Mayo. C ...

. A turning off the Keem Road leads to Lough Acorrymore, surrounded by scree slopes and now dammed to supply water for the entire island. The seaward side of Croghaun has high cliffs, the island's highest. On the road from Dooagh beach towards Lough Corrymore stands Corrymore House, once the home of Captain

Charles Boycott Charles Cunningham Boycott (12 March 1832 – 19 June 1897) was an English land agent whose ostracism by his local community in Ireland gave the English language the verb "to boycott". He had served in the British Army 39th Foot, which b ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

land agent whose ostracism by his local community in Ireland as part of a campaign for agrarian tenants' rights in 1880 gave the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

the

verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...

"to boycott", meaning "to ostracise". Captain Boycott moved to Corrymore House after his residence at Keem was burnt down. The American artist

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

also lived there at one time, having bought the house in 1924. In the centre of Dooagh is a monument to

Don Allum Donald Edward Allum (17 May 1937 – 1 December 1992) was a British oarsman, the first person to row across the Atlantic Ocean in both directions. Duo Atlantic rowing Allum's cousin, Geoff Allum, initially thought of the idea to row solo across ...

, the ocean rower who was the first to row across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

in both directions, and who completed this feat on reaching Dooagh village near to this point.

Culture

Achill has five

pipe bands A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

, Dooagh Pipe Band being one of these. Dooagh Pipe Band was founded on 17 March 1947 with a membership of eleven. ''Scoil Acla'', an

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

summer school, takes place annually in Dooagh. ''Scoil Acla'' was established in 1910. Artist Paul Henry was an active member of ''Scoil Acla'' and in 1912 directed the play ''Casadh an t-Sugain'' (The Twisting Of The Rope) by

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

. The school gradually went into decline, but was revived in 1985.

Education

Dooagh National School serves the Dooagh, Pollagh and Keel areas, and has 36 pupils and two teachers. The school was built in 1959 and renovated in 2001. Achill Archaeological Field School is based at the Achill Archaeology Centre in Dooagh. It was founded in 1991 and is a training school for students of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

. The school is involved in a study of the prehistoric and historic landscape at

Slievemore Slievemore () is the second highest peak on Achill Island after Croaghaun, in County Mayo, Ireland. Its elevation is 671 m (2,201 ft). Archaeology In 1991, the Achill Archaeological Field School was opened. That year, the Deserted Village Pro ...

, incorporating a research excavation at a number of sites within the Deserted Village of Slievemore.

Dooagh Day

Each July, on the second weekend of the month, the village plays host to a festival which includes traditional Irish

currach A currach ( ) is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "curragh". The construction and design of the currach are unique ...

racing, food, games, music, and an historical exhibition. The first Dooagh Day took place on Sunday 12 July 2015.

People

(1865–1929), an American artist who came to Achill regularly in the early 20th century. During his early trips to Achill he painted extensively and is reputed to have completed portraits of most of the children in Dooagh village. He bought Corrymore House on the hill above Dooagh in 1924.

References

External links

Geograph - Photograph of View of Dooagh and Croaghaun
{{County Mayo Villages in Achill Island