4000 BC
Archaeology can prove that there was a settlement on Achill during the new Stone Age.

1530-1603
Grace O' Malley was born on Clare Island. At a young age she married Donal O' Flaherty. Sadly she became a widow. A few years later she became a fearless leader and was also know as a pirate or a sea captain. Her family built a castle in Kildownet, which was named Gráinne Uaile. The remains of this castle are still to be seen today.

1831
Edward Nangle moved to Achill Island with his wife. In 1834 he set up a Mission Society and soup kitchen for the poor and starving people. He also located a school at Slievemore .As a result 425 children attended school. He then later built a hospital, college and a house for the minister in Mweelin. To everyone. s sadness he was posted out of Achill to Sligo in 1852.

1845
Tragedy hit Achill. Famine struck in Achill and in different parts of Ireland. Families left their homes and farms and moved closer to the sea where they could get fresh food and water. The cause of the famine was a fungus called blight, which formed on the potatoes. If the people ate the potatoes they would get seriously ill and the most severe cases would die as a result.

Families often moved away from the island to the cities where there was more help and food. (Many families from Ireland were also forced abroad.) The government built large houses where the families would move in together. These houses were known as Poor Houses. Because of the poor conditions and overcrowding, there were many diseases spread in these houses. Unfortunately many people died.

1854
The Franciscan monks built a monastery in Bunnacurry. They taught the native people about religion. Sadly they left in 1970. The ruins are still to be seen today.

1857
Charles Boycott leased land and built a house on Achill Island. Some years later his house was burned down and he moved to Corrymore and built a hotel. Charles Boycott was known around the island for his cruel ways of treating his tenants.

1887
Achill Island was first connected to the mainland by a wooden bridge

1894
The government decided to extend the railway line from Westport to Achill Sound. The train provided a great service for the people of the island because their families would be able to come home on holidays. In 1894 the train carried the bodies of the Clew Bay disaster. (A few years earlier Brian O Cearbhain prophesied that this event would happen.) This event happened when a boat overturned in Clew Bay. The people were going to Scotland for potato picking.

1800' s
During most of the 1800' s, many people used boats as a way of transport from the island to the mainland. These boats were used as working vessels transporting people, turf, dairy produce and vegetables. These events today are celebrated every year now in the . Achill Yawl Festival. .

1937
Among the people who went over to Scotland for potato picking, ten people lost their lives in a bothy. (A bothy is a temporary accommodation for potato pickers.) This event was known as the Kirkintilloch Burning Disaster. The bodies of the dead were carried into Achill by train. In September of that year the railway line was closed down. The train station is now a hostel. The people of Achill were disappointed at the closure of the railway. People of Achill have to travel at least 30 miles to the nearest train station.

1948
The bridge connected the island to the mainland was reconstructed. The bridge was named after Michael Davitt.

1970
One of the Achill people's livelihoods was shark fishing. The sharks were commercially fished for forty years and were processed at Purteen Harbour. The basking shark was killed and brought to Purteen where the oil was extracted and the fins were exported to the Far East.

20th Century
Achill population has decreased a lot. Many people have emigrated to the UK or even as far as the USA. Many primary schools have been closed down because there is not the number of children left in the villages to attend school. The children do not leave secondary school until they are 17 or 18.In the past the children would have left school at a much younger age to help on the farm. Today there are a small number of people employed in fishing, craft shops and industries such as Clare Island Fish Farm. Farming has declined steadily.