Knock Airport - Mayo is a wild escape

KNOCK - Stephen Mangans Mayo is a wild escape from London.The English actor and comedian describes his family ties with Erris which this weekend will officially receive its Irish Times award as “The Best Place to go Wild in Ireland” 

I spent most of my childhood summers and several of my Christmases in Erris. My parents came from two villages there, Geesala and Doohoma, across the water from Achill Island. In their teens they followed a well-worn passage to London to look for work.

Though I was born in London I see myself as both Irish and English, and am proud to be from Mayo and not just a suburb of north London.

For holidays we’d take the ferry over (nine hours) then drive from Dublin (six hours), stopping at the Longford Arms on the way, always the Longford Arms. The sense of remoteness sets in as you’re crossing the bog to Belmullet; it puts you in a desolate, melancholy mood. Then all of a sudden the ocean hits you, and it completely transforms.