The real Inisheriners get ready for a wave of big-screen tourism
IF you want a quiet holiday on Achill Island this summer, you might be out of luck.
The success of Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin, which was filmed on Achill along with Inis Mór, one of the Aran Islands, is set to push the popularity of the west coast to tourists far and wide.
Alan Gielty, who runs Achill Island Day Tours as well as Gielty’s Bar and Restaurant, said ‘we’ve had an awful lot of enquiries’ from people eager for some screen tourism, as it’s known in the industry.
‘I own a bar and restaurant here in Achill as well and you can see a big footfall of a lot of people coming. I am the nearest premises to Keem Bay, that would be where Brendan Gleeson’s [character’s] house was. There is an awful lot of
Summer is ‘going to be very busy’
traffic on the roads and you see them all taking photographs of the house. Achill is a lot more accessible than the Aran Islands but there is a big increase in it,’ he said.
Mr Gielty, who has been operating his tour for four years, said this summer is ‘going to be very busy’ but he is putting people off coming right now because the weather isn’t the best.
‘The tour won’t be starting until March, really, because weather-wise, you want to be able to get people out to get photographs. This time of year you have a lot of coastal fog and rain and wind. It wouldn’t be advantageous for them to come out.’
The qualified and licensed tour director said he is going to wait until after the Oscars before he really starts pushing the tours. He said: ‘We do day tours from Westport right through the island and back up again.’
He said that he worked on the movie when it was filming on the island bussing extras to and from locations. ‘I drove all the extras… and I met all the cast,’ he said, adding that the film itself shows off the island incredibly well.
‘The weather they got was unbelievable. They had a couple of bad days when they were filming in the pub. They got my two full-size coaches and they parked them in front of the pub to break the wind because the microphones were so sensitive. Other than that it was perfect,’ he said.
Chris McCarthy, manager of Achill Tourism, said ‘you cannot buy the sort of exposure’ that the film has brought them.
‘In Achill, we’re certainly lucky it has retained its oldworld heritage and charm and traditions. The scenery, the rocks and the sea, they’re still here and it’s just brilliant to have been involved,’ he said.
‘It’s all about economy here and it’s a quite dreary January but there are people coming, people calling, all our social media sites are getting hits anytime there’s anything about the Banshees. Just this morning the phones haven’t stopped,’ he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
When asked if they intend to develop the island further in light of the film’s successes, Mr McCarthy said: ‘Yes, absolutely. We’re working closely with Mayo County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way. It is a work inprogress on that, there are designs going to manufacturers and it’s really important to get it right. We have to get ready for the summer.’
National Geographic magazine also recently featured a dramatic spread of images of the islands showing off their beauty. The feature, called ‘How To Explore The Spectacular Irish Islands Featured In The Banshees of Inisherin’, describes Achill Island’s ‘towering cliffs’ and ‘desolate landscape’ which offers ‘drama at every turn’.
The island also ‘plays host to some of the film’s most breathtaking scenes’. ‘For those seeking a secluded seaside break, Achill is a destination that holds its own, whether you want to catch the waves at Keel Beach or simply dip your toes in the shallow waters off Camport Bay,’ the article reads.
It explains that Inis Mór has a ‘storied past worthy of Hollywood’ with ‘dozens of ancient monuments and historic sites dotted across the island’.
‘Perhaps the most striking of these is Dún Aonghasa, a 3,000-year-old fort perched precariously at the top of a 300ft cliff on the island’s south coast. With the breathtaking expanse of the Atlantic Ocean reaching out to the horizon beneath the fortress’s prehistoric walls, it’s little wonder visitors have been flocking here for millennia.’
The piece also advises on how best to get there and how to explore the islands, telling readers that for Achill Island, it is best done by car by crossing the Michael Davitt Bridge from the mainland while for Inis Mór, people will have to take a boat or plane.
‘Drama at every turn’