ABANDONED VILLAGE

This is a song I wrote: The "abandoned Village" my song refers to is situated on Achill Island, Co. Mayo. It consists of 80 to 100 stone cottages on a mile long stretch of road on the southern slopes of Slievemore mountain. Slievemore is the largest and most recently abandoned of several ‘booley’ settlements on Achill Island. The practice of booleying, refers to people living in different locations during the summer and winter periods, primarily to allow cattle to graze in summer pasture. The cottages at Slievemore were used as summer dwellings within living memory by families from the villages of Dooagh and Pollagh. The abandoned Village at Slievemore is a haunting reminder of times past.


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