Ireland 2025 – Day 6: Achill Island to Ballyshannon

🏍️ Day 6 – Forgotten Villages, Windswept Lighthouses & Trad Tunes in Ballyshannon 🌬️🎶

Date: May 7th, 2025

Day 6 kicked off under bright skies and a slight chill — ideal riding conditions. I started the day by inflating my rear tyre once again before exploring more of Achill Island, which feels like riding through a postcard that someone forgot to finish. 🏞️

First stop: the abandoned village near Keem Bay — a hauntingly beautiful stretch of crumbled stone homes, now swallowed by the hills. Walking among the ruins, you can almost hear the whispers of the past. The silence here wasn’t empty… it was full of something ancient. 🏚️🌾

From there, I wound my way to the dazzling turquoise waters of Keem Bay. A hidden gem tucked between dramatic cliffs, it looked more Caribbean than County Mayo. If it weren’t for the sheep staring at me like I was lost, I might’ve stayed all day. 🐑🌊

Then, it was northbound again — hugging the coast to Blacksod Lighthouse, standing proud at the tip of the Mullet Peninsula. Wind battered the shore, gulls screamed above, and the Atlantic reminded me just how far from home I really was. 🌬️💨

Next came a string of wonderfully odd and fascinating sights:

• St. Deirbhile’s Well – where legend says wishes come true. (No, I didn’t wish for a new bike… yet.)
• Roslee Castle – a brooding shell overlooking the waves.
• The Split Rock – local lore says it was split by the devil himself. Naturally, I parked the bike and gave it a respectful distance. 😅

As the day wore on, the landscape kept shifting — from ancient peat bogs to wild coastline, and then to the dizzying heights of Mullaghmore Head, where the cliffs were jaw-dropping and the wind nearly stole my helmet. Seriously. Hold onto your chin straps here. 🪖🌀

Finally, just before dusk, I rolled into Ballyshannon, a peaceful lakeside town where I’d pitched camp for the night. 🏕️ I strolled into town and treated myself to dinner at the Imperial Hotel — a proper feed after a day of roadside granola bars. Then it was onto a thatched pub, tucked away like something from a storybook, for a few well-earned Guinness and a dose of traditional Irish music. 🎻🍻

There’s something magical about ending a long ride in a pub full of strangers singing songs you don’t quite know, but humming along anyway. That’s the real Ireland. 🇮🇪