The Heinrich-Böll Cottage is located on the outskirts of Dugort village on Achill Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland.
The Achill Heinrich Böll Association is dedicated to the memory of Heinrich Böll, who spent his holidays here with his family for decades. Much of the inspiration for his famous 'Irisches Tagebuch', Irish Diary came from his visits to Achill and much of this book was written here.
In 2003, the Association purchased the cottage from the Böll family to make it available to artists, writers and musicians as a retreat. This has become the focus of the Association's work.
Since 2006, the Association has been organising a Boll Memorial Weekend which takes place annually over the May bank holiday weekend. The three-day programme includes readings, walks, concerts and lectures. Due to the pandemic, the Memorial Weekend was cancelled in 2020 and took place online in 2021. In 2022 the weekend event was back live, with readings walks and talks.
The association is comprised of people who live on Achill or have a special relationship to the island and to Böll as a writer, as well as members of the Böll family.
The activities of the association are supported by the German Embassy in Dublin, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Goethe-Institut Ireland and the Mayo County Council.