Captain Boycott
Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott was a former British army captain who resigned his commission in favour of a life as a country gentleman. He first came to Achill in 1856, leasing land at the western end of Achill Island. His holding included Keem Bay, where he briefly lived in an iron house, and large parts of Croaghaun.
He later lived in Corrymore House, below the lake at Corrymore. Boycott spent about 20 years on Achill and was apparently a strict landlord to the locals.
In 1873 he moved to an estate at Lough Mask, on mainland County Mayo, and it was here that the estate tenants rebelled and refused to have anything to do with the former Captain. This infamous episode gave rise to a new word in the English language - to ‘boycott’, meaning to shun or exclude.
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