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Welcome to amethyst bar - a meeting place for people from all walks of life
OUR STORY: Our history
The Amethyst Bar is Achill’s newest bar. Opened on 1st July 2017. It is located in the village of Keel on the site of the old Amethyst Hotel. Bar and Food.
Paul Henry (1876-1958), Irish artist lived and worked here and at other locations in Achill 1910-1919”. According to a plaque mounted on the wall of the Amethyst Hotel near the main entrance, Paul Henry lived at the location some time between 1910 and 1919. The plaque was unveiled in 2002, tells only of one famous resident, but the hotel saw its share of celebrities over the years.
The building itself dates to the 1890’s. It was owned by the Barrett family, who sold it to Thea Boyd in the 20’s, who opened it as a guesthouse. It operated as a hotel for many years until it closed in the 1980’s. It was later purchased by the McNamara family who demolished the old building on the 3rd September 2016. Following this, it was newly rebuilt, conserving many features of the old building. It reopened on the 1st July 2017 using the original Name as the Amethyst Bar and Restaurant you see today!
IMAGINE.
WHO DINED HERE IN 1967.
The most renowned guests had to be former Beatle, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who dined there in 1967. The couple were staying at the Great Southern Hotel
Mulranney at the time. They were shopping for an island in Clew Bay, which they bought but never got to live on. Just before his death in 1980, he was looking to build a house on it when his live came to an abrupt end, after being shot by a fan outside his apartment in New York.
