“Paul Henry (1876-1958), Irish artist lived and worked here and at other locations in Achill 1910-1919”.

According to a plaque mounted on the wall of the Amethyst Hotel near the main entrance, Paul Henry lived at the location some time between 1910 and 1919. The plaque was unveiled in 2002, tells only of one famous resident, but the hotel saw its share of celebrities over the years.

The building itself dates back to the 1890’s. It was owned by the Barrett family, who sold it to Thea Boyd in the 20’s, who opened it as a guesthouse. The Amethyst, was owned by the Boyd family for many years, it was given as their address when they married and children were born. In November 1928 – Northern Whig – Belfast, contained the following birth announcement

DEATHS BIRTHS BOYD—June 17, 1947, at Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Blackham’. wife of R. D. Boyd, Amethyst Hotel, Keel, Achill son (Charles Robert).

MARRIAGES- Headquarters, Dublin, elder son of Mr. and the late Mrs. A. J. Boyd, Malone Road, Belfast, to Thea Marguerite Blackham, Amethyst Hotel, Achill, County Mayo, younger daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Blackham, Orwell Park, Dublin, was announced on 01 January 1946 in the Northern Whig.

Emily attended parties there over the years. A lady who lived on Achill in the 1940’s recalls one of those parties, where she Emily and Major Dermott Freyer, the then owner of Corrymore House spent the most of the night arguing a point. A friendly argument of course, however at the end of the night the argument was unresolved and all parties agreed to disagree.

The most renowned guests had to be former Beatle, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who dined there in 1967. The couple were staying at the Great Southern Hotel Mulranney at the time. They were shopping for an island in Clew Bay, which they bought but never got to live on. Just before his death in 1980, he was looking to build a house on it when his live came to an abrupt end, after being shot by a fan outside his apartment in New York. To read more on John Lennon and his time in Mayo, vist Jim Reilly’s post on Facebook

Perhaps the longest standing owners or “parents” of the Amethyst Hotel were Noel and Joan Scanlon, who lived there for thirty or so years.

Sources

15 November 1928 – Northern Whig – Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland

01 January 1946 – Northern Whig – Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland

lhttps://afterpaulhenry.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/

THE WHITE STAG GROUP
S B Kennedy, former Keeper of Art at the Ulster Museum

https://www.facebook.com/WhatsOnInAchill/posts/490766844354993: by Jim Reilly

Much of Paul Henry’s livelihood was dependent on providing a London publication publication with sketches of anything that would be of interest to them. He needn’t have worried as his new friend Emily Weddall was happy to introduce him around. Emily had made Achill her home four years previous to the Henry’s arrival. An outgoing personality she became familiar with the people of Achill very quickly. Although outspoken her kindness and genuine concern endeared her to all. She took it upon herself to introduce the Henry’s to everybody.

“She was enthusiastic about my work and my desire to live in Achill and paint, and between us I think we were largely responsible for putting Achill ‘on the map’, as it is called… but Mrs. Weddall was enthusiastic to the point of embarrassment that I should see everything and everybody.”

True to her word Emily did introduce him around and to possible models for his paintings.  As Henry recounted:

“She was a woman who bubbled over with enthusiasm, and she called to me, ‘Oh Mr. Henry, I want you to come and see a very beautiful girl.'”

That is how Emily introduced him to a potential sitter for his portraits!

Paul Henry decided that Keel was the perfect village to take up residence and persuaded Mr ad Mrs Barrett, the local shopkeepers and postmasters to put him up as there was no other boarding houses in the village. After a lot of persuasion they gave in and provided him with lodgings.

Postcard photograph of Post Office road, Keel.

“The currents of life had carried me to this remote spot, and there seemed no current strong enough to carry me away…I made another of my quick decisions, which I never regretted and taking my return ticket to London out of my pocket tore it into small pieces and scattered the fragments into the sea which foamed round the rocks of Gubalennaun”.

Sources

An Irish Portrait,Paul Henry’s Autobiography, 1951. P 48

The site in Keel where the post office was located that Paul Henry first made contact with the people of Achill

Photo: Published by Judges Ltd. , Hastings, England. No. 13104. No date. Reproduced with the kind permission of Mayo Libraries.

“Belfast-born artist Paul Henry (1876-1958) lived and worked on Achill Island for a decade, from 1910-1919, and continued to produce Achill landscapes in later life. His works, particularly the landscapes of Achill Island and Connemara, came to typify a vision of Ireland that was prevalent in the early years of the new Irish Free State.”Read More on http://www.achill247.com/artists/paulhenry.html