An Mám
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An Mám (anglicized as Maum, or sometimes Maam) is a small Gaeltacht village and its surrounding lands in
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 Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.


Name

An Mám is Irish for "mountain pass" and as this is a
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 ...
(principally Irish-speaking) area, the area's name formally exists only in Irish. Use of the English name is still common however.


Location and access

The village is located at the southern end of the
Maam Valley Gleann an Mháma ( English: Maam Valley) is a glacial valley in County Galway, Ireland. It lies within Joyce Country in Connemara and is part of an aspirant geopark. Much of the valley is in the Connemara Gaeltacht. Location and topography T ...
, where it comes to
Lough Corrib Lough Corrib ( ; ) is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway River connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Nea ...
; the other end lies at
Leenaun Leenaun (), also Leenane, is a village and 1,845 acre townland in County Galway, Ireland, on the southern shore of Killary Harbour and the northern edge of Connemara. Location and geography Leenaun is situated on the junction of the N59 road, an ...
on
Killary Harbour Killary Harbour or Killary Fjord () is a fjord or fjard on the west coast of Ireland, in northern Connemara. To its north is County Mayo and the mountains of Mweelrea and Ben Gorm; to its south is County Galway and the Maumturk Mountains. S ...
. The settlement lies between where ''Joyce's River'' is captured by the larger Bealnabrack River, and where the Failmore River joins that river's mouth at the northern end of the lake. It sits at the edge of a mountainous area, the principal part of which forms the Maumturk or Maamturk Mountains. An Mám lies north of
Maam Cross Maam Cross () is a crossroads in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. It lies within the townland of Shindilla, at the junction of the N59 from Galway to Clifden and the R336 from Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city ...
, an important crossroads from which the main road serving the settlement, and providing a secondary route through the Maam Valley to Leenaun, the R336, comes, splitting off from the R59
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 ...
to
Clifden Clifden () is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequen ...
road. Maam Bridge, built in 1823, takes the R336 across the Bealnabrack River.


History

This area formed part of the wider
Joyce Country Joyce Country () is a cultural region in counties Galway and Mayo in Ireland. It is sometimes called Partry, after the former tribal territory of the '' Partraige'', which it largely matches. Part of it falls within the Connacht Gaeltacht. Joy ...
, named for a key family grouping, the Joy family, originally from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, which arrived during the reign of
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
and dominated the region for centuries after seizing large tracts of land.


Features

Historically there was a castle in the area, and from the 19th century until 2004, a small courthouse existed in the village.
Alexander Nimmo Alexander Nimmo FRSE MRIA MICE HFGS (1783 – January 20, 1832) was a Scottish civil engineer and geologist active in early 19th-century Ireland. Early life Nimmo was born in Cupar, Fife in 1783, the son of a watchmaker, and grew up in Kirk ...
built an inn in 1820 at the eastern end of Maam Bridge, and this later became the Maum Hotel, owned by the family of Lord Leitrim for many years; it now operates as Keane's Pub. Many community facilities are provided from Leenaun. There is free fishing in the river and in the nearer parts of lough corrib.


References


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland Towns and villages in Connemara Gaeltacht places in County Galway Gaeltacht towns and villages {{County Galway