About

This is the digital home of a group of lads from Roscommon who simply go to a unique destination every year. The destination is Achill Island and the time of year is the June bank holiday weekend. History Legend has it that one quiet Tuesday or Wednesday evening in The Lyons Den (a well known drinking establishment at the time, especially famous for its Saturday afternoon looney bin goings on and some indescribable ‘After Hours’) a group of lads were having a pint and were giving out about the oncoming bank holiday in June and not having anything to do. The then proprieter of the pub, ‘Clouds’, offered the congregration a little anecdote of what he and a few buddies of his used to do at this time of the year back in the 60s. Having captured the attention of the thristy group who, were not really expecting inspiration to come from his lips, he relaxed into an enchanted tale of crocky cars and a long journey to an enchanted Island where they used to celebrate this weekend like no other. He mentioned how the entire North of Ireland used to go there for that weekend, how tourists came from every part of the country to soak up the glorious sunshine and the friendliness of that beautiful Island, which was of course Achill Island. The First Trip Inspired by the stories from Clouds(and there were many!) the group of lads decided to organize themselves(something a true Rossie really feels is genetically incorrect in the first place), and in Cormacans van they set out for the legandary Island. Words have not been invented yet to attempt to describe this first trip, it surpassed their very high expectations. It would be fair to say, ‘They went mad’. What they actually got up to would not be fair to the story to try and put in down in words as it is much better to listen to one of the First Achill lads tell some of the stories. However it might make a good ‘Play’ On their return from the Island, their goings on rapidly became the talk of the town, and a tradition had been established! Evolution 1996: Barney and Beeney Achill is a little like wine. The early 90s were excellent, year after year, but naturally some years can be simply better than others. Following some tremendous consecutive trips to Achill, one year has stood out among all others, as an exceptional Year, 1996 . It was a combination of factors, but blazing sunshine definately helped. In that year the sun had been baking the Island for a week and the Rossies arrived in style, with the cars loaded with seaside toys and inflatable dingys and animals, and of course as much local vegatation as possible attached to the car. A Polish native, living in Roscommon recently wrote this about a trip to a music festival in his home country, and it captures exactly what a good Achill leaves one feeling like: Three days of the festival were better than two weeks’ exotic holidays in Majorca. During the festival I lost all negative energy and reverted to a child-like state, delighted with small treats. 2000: The Ferrari Not many would believe that it was going to be possible to bring this wreck to achill but it not only made it to the Island it aslo serverd its purpose as principle troop carrier for the weekend. It didnt have breaks and the only way to stop it on the way to Keem beach was to constantly crash it against rocks 2001: The Troop Carrier It would be say Achill hit the heights in 2001 when Muff managed to bring the chopper. Was it the Rossies flying around or perhaps Bruce Springsteens E Street Band on a day off. 2007: The Tash competition This was the year of the ‘Tash Competition’. The winner was never in doubt but there certainly were some great efforts put in to make steps fight right up to the sofa-walk.