Mulranny or Mallaranny ()—sometimes spelt as 'Mulrany', 'Malaranny', 'Mullaranny', 'Mullranny' or 'Mulranny'—is a seaside village on the

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

between

Clew Bay Clew Bay (; ) is a large ocean bay on the Atlantic coast of County Mayo, Ireland. It is roughly rectangular and has more than a hundred small islands on its landward side; Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. The larger Clare Island guar ...

and

Blacksod Bay Blacksod Bay () is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, north County Mayo, Ireland. The long and wide bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula. Its eastern side includes Kiltane Parish, which extends southwards from Belmul ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, Ireland. Located at the foot of the

Nephin Nephin or Nefin (), at 806 metres (2646 ft), is the highest standalone mountain in Ireland and the second-highest peak in Connacht (after Mweelrea). It is to the west of Lough Conn in County Mayo. Location It lies in the centre of Gl ...

Mountain Range, Mulranny has a number of

blue flag beaches The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit, non-g ...

and a coastal

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

. The

Corraun Peninsula The Corraun Peninsula, also spelt Currane ( Irish:''An Corrán'' ), is a peninsula in County Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. It extends out from the mainland towards Achill Island. Thoroughfares on the peninsula include the Great Western G ...

, which contains three mountain peaks, is situated across

Transport

Mulranny is located on the N59 national secondary road. Bus routes serving the area include

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

route 450 (

Dooagh Dooagh () is a village located on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. It is best known for the nearby Keem Bay, a Blue Flag beach. Dooagh beach Between May 2017 and January 2019, Dooagh beach had of golden sand. Previously, the sand was com ...

- Westport-

Louisburgh Louisburgh () is a small town on the southwest corner of Clew Bay in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is home to Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh, Sancta Maria College and the Gráinne O'Malley Interpretive Centre. Transport Road ...

) and Local Link route 978 (

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

Belmullet Belmullet (, IPA: �bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony (Ireland), barony of Erris, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the commercial and cul ...

Tourism

Mulranny lies on the 42 km

Great Western Greenway The Great Western Greenway () is a greenway rail trail in County Mayo, Ireland. It is long and begins in Westport and ends in Achill, passing through the towns of Newport and Mulranny as it runs along the coast of Clew Bay. It is an off-roa ...

, which runs between Westport and Achill. In 2011, it was the winner of a '

European Destinations of Excellence European Destinations of ExcelleNce, also known by the acronym EDEN, is an initiative launched by the European Commission promoting sustainable tourism development models across Europe. The project is based on national competitions which take plac ...

' award. A type of heather, ''

Erica erigena ''Erica erigena'', the Irish heath, is a European species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. Description It is a compact evergreen shrub growing to , with somewhat brittle foliage and deep pink honey-scented flowers in winter and spring ...

'', which is unique to the area, is celebrated during the annual summer "Mulranny Mediterranean Heather Festival".

Notable people

Ernst Chain Sir Ernst Boris Chain (19 June 1906 – 12 August 1979) was a German-born British biochemist and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on penicillin. Life and career Chain was born in Berlin, the son of Marg ...

, credited with developing the application of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

alongside

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of wha ...

, had a home in the area. *

Ollie Conmy Oliver Martin Conmy (13 November 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a former footballer who played as a winger in the 1960s and 1970s. Although born in Ireland, he was just nine years old when his parents left County Mayo to live in Dewsbury, York ...

, former Irish international soccer player. * Jerry Cowley, Irish barrister, medical doctor and former politician, lives locally. *

Desmond Llewelyn Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (; 12 September 1914GRO Register of Births: DEC 1914 11a 490 NEWPORT M. – Desmond W. Llewelyn, mmn = Wilkinson – 19 December 1999GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 2000 A70E 247 EASTBOURNE – Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn, D ...

, known for his role as "Q" in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movies, also had a home locally. * Colm McManamon,

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er. *

Matt McManamon Matt McManamon is a Liverpool-born singer-songwriter and guitarist most known for his role as lead singer for The Dead 60s. McManamon has also played lead guitar for The Specials, and has toured and recorded with artists including The BibleCode ...

, a Liverpool-born musician who moved to Mulranny in the late 2000s *

Mulloy Brothers The Mulloy Brothers were a traditional Irish ballad group from Mulranny, County Mayo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. Tom, Pat, Martin and Michael Mulloy have been performing since 1965, in a career that has involved several tours a ...

, a

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...

group.

References

{{County Mayo Towns and villages in County Mayo

Transport

Tourism

Notable people

See also

References