Leenaun

Leenaun
An Líonán
Village
Leenaun
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°35′45″N 9°41′39″W / 53.5958°N 9.6942°W / 53.5958; -9.6942Coordinates: 53°35′45″N 9°41′39″W / 53.5958°N 9.6942°W / 53.5958; -9.6942
Country Ireland
Province Connacht
County County Galway
Elevation 127 m (417 ft)
Time zone UTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference L874618
Leenaun old bridge about four months before it was washed away.
The new bridge, 2009

Leenaun (Irish: An Líonán or Líonán Cinn Mhara, meaning "where the tide fills"),[1] also Leenane, is a village and 1,845 acre townland in northern County Galway, Ireland, on the southern shore of Killary Harbour (one of only three fjords in Ireland), on the northern edge of Connemara.

Location

Leenaun is situated on the N59, where the R336 road comes north to meet it, and lies in a valley, on the line of the Maam Valley, between the mountains of Munterowen West and Devilsmother, with a direct view of Ben Gorm mountain to the north, across the fjord. The village is on the route of the Western Way long-distance trail and the Wild Atlantic Way. It is on the southern shore of the Killary Harbour fjord, and has a small harbour.

The village is largely linear, and the main road crosses multiple streams, with the main bridge crossing the Lahill River in the village centre.

Bridge loss and replacement

Following torrential rain on 18 July 2007, the only river bridge in the village was swept away, cutting the town in half, and altering some local routes by over 100 kilometres. It was part of the N59 national secondary road and had stood there for 182 years.[2] A permanent replacement bridge was constructed in 2009, with increased traffic capacity.

Local amenities

Center of Leenaun village and the most popular place to have a lunch or dinner in Leenaun.

In the village are two pubs, a hotel with seaweed baths and two guesthouses, one of which is a former convent of the Sisters of Mercy, with a breakfast room in the former chapel. There is also a café-restaurant and a Sheep and Wool Museum with a shop and its own café, and a post office and shop, as well as a community centre.

Within Maam Valley are some ancient woods, and across the fjord is Delphi (the valley of the Bundorragha River is sometimes called the Delphi Valley) in County Mayo, which has a postal address of "Leenane, Co. Galway," and which contains both a fishing lodge and a resort hotel and adventure sports centre. Both nearby, on the Erris River which runs into the fjord, and across at Delphi, with a river and two lakes, are active fisheries.

The major tourist attraction Kylemore Abbey lies to the south, and the scenic Renvyle peninsula to the south-west.

In the media

Leenaun was the setting for the film The Field and of Martin McDonagh's plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lonesome West.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leenaun Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Locals fear tourism downturn as world famous bridge swept away". Irish Examiner. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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