Most of Achill’s big views cost you a climb. Minaun doesn’t. A steep, narrow road – built for engineers servicing the transmission masts – runs almost to the 466 m summit, one of the highest points on Achill Island, and from the small car park at the top the view opens across the whole island to Keel Strand below, the Ashleam cliffs, and Clare Island out to sea. On a clear day you can pick out the Connemara mountains.
That clear day is the catch. Minaun is only as good as the weather: in fog or low cloud you will drive up for nothing, so check the forecast before you commit to the hill.
At the top
The car park is the viewpoint. From it you take in the sweep of Achill, the white limestone face of the Ashleam cliffs and open Atlantic beyond. A short walk along the cliff edge brings you to a modest statue of the Virgin Mary, a cluster of funeral stones, and the low foundations of 19th-century cottages – homes of families who farmed these slopes before emigration emptied them. The communications masts overhead are a jarring modern note, but they are the reason there is a road up here at all.
Getting up there
The final approach is the thing to plan for. It is narrow, steep and shared with walkers and cyclists, so campervans, trailers and larger cars will find it hard going, especially in the wet. Take it slowly and yield to people on foot.
Without a car, a bus runs from Achill Sound to Dooega (roughly €3 to €5); from Dooega it is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the cliffs, a 30 to 40 minute walk over uneven ground. Rural timetables thin out at weekends and in winter, so check before you rely on them.
There are no facilities at the summit. The nearest toilets, cafés and shops are down in Keel, a short drive along the Atlantic Drive. Bring water, a windproof layer and decent shoes – the wind up here doesn’t care what month it is.
Birds and photography
The cliffs are good for seabirds: razorbills, guillemots and fulmars nest on the faces, and peregrine falcons hunt the updrafts along the edge. Spring and early summer are best, and the birds tend to keep to the steeper, less accessible ledges, so bring binoculars. For photographs, sunrise and sunset give the softest light; a polarising filter cuts the glare off the sea, and a telephoto helps with distant birds and the Clare Island silhouette.
Guided walks and the coffin path
An old ‘coffin path’ once ran from the abandoned village on the slopes of Slievemore down to the coast, used to carry the dead to burial. Achill Isle Walks runs guided walks that take in this route and the social history of the deserted village; check current times and prices with them directly.
Nearby on the Atlantic Drive
Minaun sits right on the Atlantic Drive, the scenic loop around Achill, so it is easy to string together with other stops. Keel Beach is the obvious pairing for a meal or a swim, the White Cliffs of Ashleam give another angle on the coast, and further west Keem Bay – Achill’s most photographed beach, ringed by cliffs – is worth the drive out.
Go for the last hour of light on a clear evening. If the top of the hill is already in cloud when you set off, save it for another day.