placenamesLettermullan Island
Leitir Mealláin
Fishing and gathering seaweed shaped nineteenth-century island life; a church overlooking the coast and a locally assembled heritage collection preserve later chapters of Lettermullan's story.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Leitir Mealláin · Irish · main form
- Lettermullan Island · English · main form
Place & story
Working the surrounding waters
Samuel Lewis described Lettermullan in 1837 under the spelling Littermullin, placing it between Kiegall and Casheen bays. His account connected island livelihoods with herring and cod fishing and with collecting seaweed for use as manure, work that employed several boats. He distinguished the island's arable and grazing ground from those maritime occupations. The account captures a coastal economy in which boats served both the fisheries and the cultivation of land. [2]
Star of the Sea
Séipéal Réalt na Mara, the Catholic Church of the Star of the Sea, is dated 1887 in the national architectural survey. Its four-bay nave and chancel occupy a prominent position overlooking the countryside and coast. Pointed stained-glass windows and carved limestone holy-water stoups enrich the otherwise simple building. A separate campanile of steel and timber holds a cast-iron bell bearing the name of Very Revd John Healy and the date 1912. [3]
A permanent home for local history
The Lettermullen and Garumna Heritage Centre opened at Caladh Ghólam in June 2009, following interest in exhibitions drawn from historian John Bhaba Jeaic Ó Confhaola's private collection. Fáilte Ireland's account describes books in Irish and English, newspapers and magazines catalogued for researchers, alongside tools used in smithing, carpentry and farming. Photographs of local families and older customs extend the collection beyond objects to the people and practices of the surrounding islands. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Galway
- Barony
- Moycullen
- Civil parish
- Kilcummin
- Within
- Lettermullan Island
- Coordinates
- 53.24471, -9.73789 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413598 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Lettermullan Island. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Littermullin, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Séipéal Réalt na Mara, registration 30408901 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Lettermullen and Garumna Heritage Centre · Fáilte Ireland, Discover Ireland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-10-15. How this page was prepared.