Achill Railway; The early years

The time the railway was completed, tourism began to take off in the West of Ireland. With the new improved infrastructure of rail and roads, tourist began to make their way west. Before that it was only the odd intrepid traveler that wandered to remote Island. In the 1870’s newspapers and magazines began to recommend Achill and similar places such as Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher as tourist destinations, talking about them as them as they were new discoveries, which in a way these places were at the time.

The above was written in 1877, when tourist books on Ireland were beginning to be printed, enticing visitors to places such as Connemara and Clare and the lesser known regions of Donegal and Achill. The areas mentioned would be known collectively as the Wild Atlantic Way.

The above accounts were taken from the Handbook of the Midland, Great Western Railway Guide to Connemara and the West of Ireland.

Sources

http://www.failteireland.ie/Footer/What-We-Do/Our-History.aspxID

recommending Achill Pall Mall Gazette 04 October 18772

Handbook of the Midland Great Western Railway Guide to Connemara and the West of Ireland.