Lettermullen, ( or possibly "the hill with the mill"), is a small island and village on the coast of southern

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, Ireland. It is about west of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

city, at the far western end of

Galway Bay Galway Bay ( Irish: ''Loch Lurgain'' or ''Cuan na Gaillimhe'') is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south; Galway ...

, Lettermullen is the westernmost of three islands; Lettermullen, Gorumna and Lettermore, along with smaller islands collectively known as Ceantar na nOileán ("District of the Islands") connected to the mainland by the bridges and causeways of R374.

Geography and geology

Lettermullen is in the parish of Kilcummin,

barony of Moycullen Moycullen () is a historical barony in west County Galway, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the ...

, and province of Connacht. It forms one side of Kiegall Bay, and its northern end is part of the shore of Casheen Bay. The island comprises about of arable and pasture land. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in herring and cod fisheries and in the collection of seaweed for manure. Lettermullen is connected to the islands of Dinish, Furnish, Inisherk and An Crappagh. The northern third of Lettermullan is composed of the same intrusive

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

-aged

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

underlying most of Galway that formed from crustal melting as a result of the

Caledonian Orogeny The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building cycle recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Caledonides, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events tha ...

in the late

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

. The remainder of the island is made up of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

-aged bedrock of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...

marine rocks and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

Culture

Lettermullen is part of the

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

( Irish-speaking region of Ireland) and Irish is the most common spoken language. Accordingly, its official name is ''Leitir Mealláin''.

Landmarks

A very well preserved Signal Station is situated near Golam Head. These stations were built all along the Irish coast by the British from 1804 to 1806 to monitor for maritime invasions. A picturesque cemetery is situated just south of R374 immediately after you cross the bridge from Gorumna to Lettermullen.

Demographics

Notable people

* Antoine Ó Flatharta (playwright and scriptwriter)

References

{{County Galway Islands of Connemara Towns and villages in Connemara Gaeltacht towns and villages Gaeltacht places in County Galway