New Achill walking trail to open

Edwin McGreal

ACHILL’S new scenic walking trail will be officially opened on the island this Friday.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport Michael Ring will perform the official opening of the Slí GhrΡinne Mhaol loop walk at 2pm in Derreens.

The 6.8km trail runs through Derreens, Kildownet and Ashleam, taking in stunning views stretching from Blacksod Bay in the north to Connemara in the south.

Locals Vivian Ruddy and Michael Patten are behind the project, which they hope will attract large numbers of walkers. It also received support from the South West Mayo Development Company and, in particular, Rural Recreation Officer Martin Dillane.

The walk runs along two parts of a bog road built as a project for local men during World War II along another bog road known as Elephant Road.  

It traverses hillsides for about one third of the route, covering some of the same ground as the historic coffin trail – the route along which coffins were brought from all over Achill up through the hills to Kildownet graveyard generations ago, when there was no other graveyard on the island.

GrΡinne stomping ground

The Slí GhrΡinne Mhaol loop walk, graded ‘Strenuous’ by The National Trails Office, reaches heights of 189 metres.

“We decided to name it after a local connection, and that’s why we went with GrΡinne Mhaol, whose castle at Kildownet is very visible on the route,” explained Vivian Ruddy. “From the trail you can see Blacksod, Clare Island, Clew Bay, Croagh Patrick and the mountains of Connemara, much of the area that GrΡinne Mhaol herself controlled,” added Mr Ruddy.

Along the trail, the remnants of old villages from where families were evicted by the landlord William Pike in 1854, are also visible.

Walkers will pass ‘leachtaí’ on Derreens Hill. These are little cairns, likely to be pre-Christian burial sites, but which have never been excavated.

“Local lore has it than when mourners would carry a coffin from other parts of the island, they would rest the coffin on these leachtaí before commencing the descent down to Kildownet Graveyard,” explains Michael Patten.

That coffin trail has been re-enacted on the last two Good Fridays.

The trail commences and finishes just beside Patten’s Pub in Derreens, which is on Achill’s Atlantic Drive and the Wild Atlantic Way.  The loop should take walkers approximately two-and-a-half hours. Underfoot conditions can be wet in parts, so proper footwear is advised.

Slí GhrΡinne Mhaol will be walked this Friday at 11am, prior to the official opening at 2pm beside Patten’s Bar. All are welcome.