![Mayomap](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Mayomap.jpg)
The Mullet Peninsula ( ga, Leithinis an Mhuirthead)—also known as the Mullet (''an Mhuirthead'') and sometimes as the Erris Peninsula—is a
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
in the
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name ...
in
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") 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 Conn ...
, Ireland. As of 2016 it has a population of 3963. It consists of a large
promontory
A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...
connected to the mainland at
Belmullet
Belmullet (, IPA: bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is the commercial and cultural heart of the barony of Erris, wh ...
(''Béal an Mhuirthead''), a town of about 1,000 inhabitants, by a narrow
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) 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 counterpart of an isthmu ...
. There are several villages on the Mullet peninsula including
Aughleam, Elly, Corclough and Binghamstown. The Peninsula is about long and ranges from to wide. Its northernmost point is
Erris Head
Erris Head (Irish: ''Ceann Iorrais'') is a promontory at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula, located in the barony of Erris in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is a well known and recognised landmark used by mariners and weather fo ...
. The peninsula's doglegged shape forms two bays,
Blacksod Bay and
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay ( ga, Cnocán na Líne) is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching 8.6 km between Erris Head in the west and Kid Island/Oileá ...
.
The Mullet Peninsula is part of the Mayo
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 ...
, meaning that
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
is a relatively common language. According to the 2016 census about 8% of the population spoke Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. The area has several Irish-language
summer schools
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
. The Mullet is a tourist destination, and has several beaches and a mild climate; chief attractions include
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
watersports
Water sports or aquatic sports are sport activities conducted on waterbodies, and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants.
On the water
* Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races
* Boatin ...
,
kiting,
boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...
,
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
, and sea-
angling
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...
.
Name
The origin of the names ''Mullet'' and ''an Mhuirthead'' is not clear. They may have come from Irish ''Muileat'' or ''an Mhuileat'', which has been translated as "(the)
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) 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 counterpart of an isthmu ...
". Bernard O'Hara in ''Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage'' suggests that "A change from 'L' to 'R', which is quite common in Irish" may have resulted in a change to ''an Mhuireat'', which in turn became ''an Mhuirthead''. It has also been suggested that the name may be from English and refer to
the fish or the
star shape used in heraldry.
Antiquities and places of interest
![An Fál Mór Teampall Deirbhile East Window 2013 09 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/An_F%C3%A1l_M%C3%B3r_Teampall_Deirbhile_East_Window_2013_09_09.jpg)
Despite its apparent sandy 'barrenness', the Mullet Peninsula has much to offer in way of interesting historical artefacts. The parish of
Kilcommon
Kilcommon ( ga, Cill Chomáin) is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitatio ...
which lies to the northeast of the Mullet has more
visible prehistoric monuments such as in-situ
megalithic tomb
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
The ...
s.
Several islands lie off the coast of the Mullet peninsula including the
Inishkea Islands
The Inishkea Islands (Irish: ''Inis Cé'') are situated off the coast of the Belmullet peninsula in Ireland. The islands are believed to be named after a saint that lived on the island called Saint Kea. There are two main islands - Inishkea Nor ...
,
Inishglora and
Duvillaun. There are lighthouses on other small islands off the coast at
Blackrock
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
and
Eagle Island.
The Saint Deirbhle
heritage centre
A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and often ...
based at
Aughleam near the southern end of the peninsula has a collection of books and historical information on the area.
The saint's old church and St. Deirbhile's Well, where it is alleged that a cure for eye problems can be acquired, is a couple of miles from the centre.
Glosh tower on Termon Hill is one of the 82 Napoleonic signal towers built 1801-1806 by the English holds a commanding view of the area.
Sculptures may be found on Glosh Beach.
Ocean wave energy test site
In the northwest of the Mullet peninsula a site for testing full-scale ocean
wave power
Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).
Waves are generated by win ...
devices has been selected between Frenchport Pier, Annagh Head and Cross. This site will be the first time full-scale devices have been tested off the west coast of Ireland. Prototypes have been tank tested in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
and scaled models have undergone testing near
Spiddal
Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) an ...
in
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; Galwa ...
in recent years. The wave energy potential in the Atlantic Ocean between North Mayo and West Donegal is one of the best in the world for the development of this new renewable energy technology. Several device types will be tested off the Mullet Peninsula.
Transport
Bus Éireann route 446 links the peninsula with
Belmullet
Belmullet (, IPA: bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is the commercial and cultural heart of the barony of Erris, wh ...
,
Bangor Erris
Bangor Erris () is a town in Kiltane parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland with a population of over 300. It is on the banks of the Owenmore River and is a "gateway" to the Erris Peninsula linking Belmullet with Ballina and Westport. It is ...
,
Bellacorick
Bellacorick or Bellacoric () is a townland in County Mayo in Ireland. It is in the Electoral Division of Glenco, in Civil Parish of Kilcommon, in the Barony of Erris, in the County of Mayo. Bellacorick has an area of: 2,789,440 m2 / 278.94 hecta ...
,
Crossmolina
Crossmolina is a town in the Barony of Tyrawley in County Mayo, Ireland, as well as the name of the parish in which Crossmolina is situated. The town sits on the River Deel near the northern shore of Lough Conn. Crossmolina is about west o ...
and
Ballina. There is one service a day in each direction, including Sundays. On Friday evenings an extra journey operates from Ballina. Onward bus and rail connections are available at
Ballina.
See also
*
Wild Atlantic Way
The Wild Atlantic Way ( ga, Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin) is a tourism trail on the west coast, and on parts of the north and south coasts, of Ireland. The 2,500 km (1,553 mile) driving route passes through nine counties and three provinces, s ...
References
{{Peninsulas of Ireland
Peninsulas of County Mayo
Gaeltacht towns and villages
Gaeltacht places in County Mayo
Erris