Maam or Maum (Irish: An Mám, meaning “the pass”) is a small village with surrounding lands in Connemara, County Galway. As this is a Gaeltacht (principally Irish-speaking) area, the town name formally exists only in Irish – the anglicised form has no official standing, though it is in use for centuries too. The village is located at the southern end of the Maam Valley, where it reaches Lough Corrib; the other end lies at Leenaun on Killary Harbour. The settlement is at an altitude of around 20 metres, between where the main river of the southern two thirds of the valley, Joyce’s River, is captured by the larger Abhainn Beal Atha na mBreac (Bealnabrack River) and where the Failmore River joins that river’s mouth at the northern end of the Corrib. It sits at the edge of a mountainous area, the principal part of which forms the Maumturk or Maamturk Mountains. Rainfall occurs at some of the highest levels in Ireland, around 2500 mm a year. A Norman keep known as Caisleán na Circe or Hen’s Castle was built on an island in Lough Corrib beside the village (https://vimeo.com/72311211) and from the 19th century, a small courthouse (closed in 2004) and a post office. Alexander Nimmo, a Scottish civil engineer and geologist active in early 19th-century Ireland, built an inn in 1820 at the eastern end of Maam Bridge, and this later became the Maum Hotel, owned by the family of Lord Leitrim for many years; it now operates as Keane’s Pub. More information at: http://www.maamvalley.com/ ATTRACTION
MAAM, GALWAY
Annual Events
