Achillbeg

Achillbeg

Native name: Acaill Bheag
Achillbeg's lighthouse
Achillbeg
Geography
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	53°51′N 9°57′W
Administration
Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	Mayo
Demographics
Population	1

Mayo islands

Acaill Bheag (Achillbeg) is a small island in County Mayo, Ireland, just off the southern tip of Achill Island.

Etymology

Its name means Little Achill.

History

Acaill Bheag was evacuated in 1965 after being inhabited for over 3000 years and the inhabitants were settled on the main (Achill) island and nearby mainland. The main settlement was in the centre of the island, bounded by two hills to the north and south. There are a small number of holiday homes on the island, but they are usually empty for most of the year. Access to the island is from Cé Mhór, in the village of An Chloich Mhór (Cloghmore), by local arrangement. A lighthouse on Acaill Bheag's southern tip was completed in 1965.

A comprehensive book about the life and times of the island and the people and way of life there, "Achillbeg - The Life of an Island", by Jonathan Beaumont was published in 2005.

The Irish artist Pete Hogan wrote a book about his time spent living on the island in 1983, The Artist on the Island: An Achill Journal which was published in 2013.

Demographics

The table below reports data on Achillbeg's population taken from Discover the Islands of Ireland (1999) and the Census of Ireland.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1841 178 —     1851 149 −16.3% 1861 137 −8.1% 1871 93 −32.1% 1881 105 +12.9% 1891 113 +7.6% 1901 104 −8.0% 1911 117 +12.5% 1926 99 −15.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1936 67 −32.3% 1946 63 −6.0% 1951 54 −14.3% 1956 50 −7.4% 1961 38 −24.0% 1966 0 −100.0% 1971 0 0.00% 1979 0 0.00% 1981 0 0.00%	Year Pop. ±% 1986 0 0.00% 1991 0 0.00% 1996 0 0.00% 2002 0 0.00% 2006 0 0.00% 2011 0 0.00% 2016 1 —
Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". CSO.ie. Retrieved 12 October 2016. (E2021 for 2016 figures)