For thirty years the Noel and Joan Scanlon occupied the historic Amethyst Hotel. Before they purchased the hotel from the Boyd/Blackburn family in the Seventies the couple traveled around the Middle East and India, where Noel worked as a banker and Joan as a secretary for the British Consulate. But they had a dream, away from the corporate world. When Noel took very early retirement around the age of 40, they moved back to Ireland, first to Clare and then on to Achill, where they purchased the Amethyst Hotel, but there was more to their dream and that was to fully realise their creativity, he as a writer and she as an artist. That they did very successfully. Sylvia Thompson in her Irish Times article captures their journey from their lives as expats to their last days as hosts of the Amethyst Hotel. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/the-gulf-between-two-worlds-1.435383

When the article went to print in 2005 the days of their days at the Amethyst Hotel were drawing to a close. The moved to a more urban setting shortly afterwards. They have not been forgotten on Achill and are fondly remembered by the people of Keel.

Even though Noel and Joan, took up ownership at the Amethyst, two decades after Emily’s death, there was still a thin thread connecting both era’s, almost invisible to the eye. The structure of the main hotel remained true to its origins, give or take a modern additions. The atmosphere, particularity in the dining room was full of old world charm, just like stepping into bygone era. It was easy to imagine Emily and her friends talking and laughing. It was like the walls held these conversations long after the party was over.