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

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is about west of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

city, at the far western end of Galway Bay, Lettermullen is the westernmost of three islands; Lettermullen,

Gorumna Gorumna () is an island on the west coast of Ireland, forming part of County Galway. Geography Gorumna Island is linked with the mainland through the Béal an Daingin Bridge. Gorumna properly consists of three individual islands in close pr ...

and

Lettermore Lettermore () is a Gaeltacht village in County Galway, Ireland. It is also the name of an island, linked by road to the mainland, on which the village sits. The name comes from the Irish ''Leitir Móir'' meaning ''great rough hillside'' (''leitir ...

, along with smaller islands collectively known as

Ceantar na nOileán Ceantar na nOileán is an Irish-speaking district in the West of County Galway. There are about 2,000 people living in the area, located 56 km west of Galway city. In 2016, 71.7% (1,474) of the population aged 3 years and over spoke Irish ...

("District of the Islands") connected to the mainland by the bridges and causeways of R374. Lettermullen is in the parish of Kilcummin, barony of Moycullen, and province of Connaught. 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 part of the

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

( Irish-speaking region of Ireland) and Irish is the most common spoken language. Accordingly, its official name is ''Leitir Mealláin''. Lettermullen is connected to the islands of Dinish, Furnish, Inisherk and An Crappagh. 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.

Geology

The northern third of Lettermullan is composed of the same intrusive

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

-aged

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies undergro ...

underlying most of Galway that formed from crustal melting as a result of the Caledonian Orogeny in the late

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 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 shortest period of the Paleozo ...

. The remainder of the island is made up of Ordovician-aged bedrock of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

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 ...

Demographics

Famous people born on Lettermullen

Antoine Ó Flatharta Antoine Ó Flatharta is an Irish playwright and screenwriter who writes in English and Irish. Playwriting credits *''Ag Ealaín In Éirinn'' *''An Fear Bréige'' *''An Solas Dearg'' *''Aois na hÓige'' *''Between Venus and Mars'' *''Blood Guilt ...

(playwright and scriptwriter)

References

* http://www.udaras.ie/en/faoin-udaras/foilseachain/tuarascalacha-bliantula-agus-raitis#2012 Annual Reports and Statements - Údarás Gaeltacht * https://web.archive.org/web/20131203012132/http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Education/The_Irish_Headhunter_catalogue.pdf {{Gaeltacht Islands of County Galway Gaeltacht towns and villages Gaeltacht places in County Galway