Paul Henry and his wife Grace lived and painted on Achill for almost seven years in the early part of the 20th century. But the landscape and maritime painter Alexander Williams (1846–1930) long predated the Henrys on Achill and fortunately kept a voluminous record of his experience as Gordon Ledbetter recounts
Alexander Williams RHA (1846–1930) left some thirty-six volumes of papers, now in the author’s possession. Achill Island was for many years a centre of his activities and he was regarded in his time as being the first painter to make the island known to a wider public (Fig 4). His Achill Natural History Notes & Diary, written between 1907 and 1913, represent a unique record of his life on the island
