Lettermullen

Lettermullen

Leitir Mealláin
Lettermullen Leitir Mealláin
Village
	Location in Ireland
	Coordinates: 53°14′38″N 9°43′34″W / 53.244°N 9.726°W
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Galway
Elevation	1 m (3 ft)
Population (2022)
• Total	214
Irish Grid Reference	L848522

Lettermullen, (Irish: Leitir Mealláin, meaning 'Mealláin's rough hillside' or possibly "the hill with the mill"), is a small island and village on the coast of southern Connemara in County Galway, Ireland. It is about 58 km (36 mi) west of Galway city, at the far western end of Galway Bay, 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.^[2]

Geography and geology

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 100 hectares (250 acres) 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-aged granite underlying most of Galway that formed from crustal melting as a result of the Caledonian Orogeny in the late Silurian. The remainder of the island is made up of Ordovician-aged bedrock of sedimentary marine rocks and basalt.^[3]

Culture

Lettermullen is part of the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region of Ireland) and Irish is the most common spoken language. Accordingly, its official name is Leitir Mealláin.^[4]

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

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1841	587	—
1851	383	−34.8%
1861	433	+13.1%
1871	497	+14.8%
1881	626	+26.0%
1891	549	−12.3%
1901	533	−2.9%
1911	460	−13.7%
1926	346	−24.8%

Year	Pop.	±%
1936	335	−3.2%
1946	329	−1.8%
1951	320	−2.7%
1956	315	−1.6%
1961	280	−11.1%
1966	245	−12.5%
1971	221	−9.8%
1979	216	−2.3%
1981	218	+0.9%

Year	Pop.	±%
1986	211	−3.2%
1991	196	−7.1%
1996	204	+4.1%
2002	219	+7.4%
2006	213	−2.7%
2011	241	+13.1%
2016	204	−15.4%
2022	214	+4.9%

Source: Central Statistics Office. "CNA17: Population by Off Shore Island, Sex and Year". CSO.ie. Retrieved 12 October 2016.

Notable people

*The Ethnography of Garumna and Lettermullen in the County Galway*; 1899

Antoine Ó Flatharta (playwright and scriptwriter)

References

^ Population of Inhabited Islands Off the Coast (Report). Central Statistics Office. 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ Robinson, Tim (1985). Mapping South Connemara. Folding Landscapes. ISBN 978-0950400235.
^ Holland, C. H. (Charles Hepworth) Sanders, Ian. (2009). The geology of Ireland. Dunedin Academic. ISBN 978-1-903544-49-5. OCLC 679356088.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Leitir Mealláin/Lettermullan Island". Logainm.ie. Retrieved 14 July 2020.

[Census2022-1] Population of Inhabited Islands Off the Coast (Report). Central Statistics Office. 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[2] Robinson, Tim (1985). Mapping South Connemara. Folding Landscapes. ISBN 978-0950400235.

[3] Holland, C. H. (Charles Hepworth) Sanders, Ian. (2009). The geology of Ireland. Dunedin Academic. ISBN 978-1-903544-49-5. OCLC 679356088.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] "Leitir Mealláin/Lettermullan Island". Logainm.ie. Retrieved 14 July 2020.

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