IRISH GEOGRAPHY
BULLETIN OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF
IRELAND
Volume IV
THE
MULLET
OF MAYO
By J. P. HAUGHTON
Trinity College, Dublin
INTRODUCTION
The Mullet peninsula, located in the extreme north-west of
County Mayo, is connected to the mainland by an isthmus
barely a quarter of a mile in width on which was built, in the
early nineteenth century, the town of Belmullet. The whole
area is one of the most isolated in Ireland, for a wide expanse
of uninhabited mountain and moorland separates it from the
Moy valley 30 miles to the east which is the main focus of
life in North Mayo. The first adequate road link with Ballina
and Westport was made as late as 1824 but no railway ever
reached so far west and, even within the memory of people
living on the peninsula today, it was easier to travel to Shga
by sea than to go by road. More recently, the provision of a
bus service from Ballina and the ever-increasing use of private
motor cars has, to a limited extent, broken down this isolation.
From Erris Head in the extreme north to Ooghnora i a
the south, the peninsula measures 16 miles. Its greatest widthis seven and a half miles but it narrows to as little as a quarter
of a mile in the vicinity of Elly Bay. The peninsula, as a whole,
has a north-north-east to south-south-west trend, and its
west coast is in conformity with this. From Erris Head to
Annagh Head there are rocky, steep and inhospitable cliffs
facing the open Atlantic. South of this head, the southsouth-west line is continued as a series of islands which includes Inishglora and Inishkea North and South, but the
mainland coast swings east for two miles before turning southward again as a series of long sandy bays backed by sandhill
and interrupted by low rocky headlands (Fig. 1).
The northern part of the peninsula is separated from the
mainland by Broad Haven, and the southern part, by Blacksod bay. Both these inlets, though shallow, are broad expanses of sheltered water connected with each other by a
canal dug through the isthmus immediately to the north of
Belmullet town.
Everywhere the underlying rocks are of Precambrian age
but the peninsula falls into three parts that arfe distinct
geologically and topographically (Fig. 2 inset). The northern
part is the most extensive of the three and is joined to the
central section by an area of windblown sand that stretches
eastwards from Annagh Head almost to Blacksod Bay.
The area is underlain mainly by quartzites and mica schist
which form a gently rolling upland between 100 and 150
feet O.D. with a few hills rising to 400 feet. In spite of the
north-east to south-west trend of the coast, the land has a
distinct north-west to south-east grain which is reflected in
Annagh Head and in the Moyrahan river valley which penetrates into the heart of the region and drains south-eastward
through a heavily silted estuary to Broad Haven. In places the
quartzite is exposed without a soil cover but elsewhere a
thin but persistent covering of drift (Eastern General)
allows grassland to develop and even, in places, permits arable
cultivation. Most of the area, however, is covered by blanket
bog which is of sufficient depth to be of economic importance.
The central part of the peninsula averages less than 50 feet
O.D. though it reaches 186 feet on its northern edge. It is
underlain by gneiss, covered by drift and in places by blown
sand. The sand clothes the western slopes to 100 feet and is
not of recent origin for it has a well established grassy sward
which in places has broken down to expose the loose sand
below. Two lakes, Cross Lough and Lough Learn, represent
drainage impeded by sand dunes. The little Ardmore lake,
near Binghamstown, which is now drained, appears to have
had a different origin and was once surrounded by blanket
bog, little of which now remains. The central area terminates
southwards where the peninsula narrows to about a quarter
of a mile in the vicinity of Elly Bay.
South of Elly Bay the land widens again to form the southern
portion of the region. This was an island before the blown
sand linked it with the rest of the peninsula. The underlying
rock is mainly quartzite and mica-schist, but in the extreme
south a knob of granite rises to 345 feet to give some of the
Irighest and most useless land of the peninsula. Blown sand
reaches a height of 280 feet on the western slopes of this hill
and settlement is confined to its lower parts.
2
Blanket
Bog
Lake
Deposit
Drift
Blown £::••••.;:
Sand &.:<•.»
Alluvium
Gneiss &
Mica Schist
Quarzite [;
Granite p&'d
1
Interval 100 feet
FIG.
2 miles
1
Based on the Ordnance Survey by permission of the Minister for Finance.
SETTLEMENT AND LAND USE
The Mullet has a typical west maritime climate—a small
annual range of temperature (14 degrees F.), high humidity
and strong westerly winds—but it is of some importance that
the rainfall total (49 inches at Blacksod point) is considerably
less than that found on the seaward-facing slopes of the hills
to the east where as much as 80 inches may be recorded,
and that the wind, though humid, may have a desiccating
effect because of its strength. (In 1957 the wind speed averaged 12.3 knots with gusts of over 90 knots in January and
February.1) Shelter from this wind is an important factor in
vegetation growth and it is fortunate that much of the drift
cover on which cultivation takes place lies on the lee side of
the peninsula and therefore has some protection from the
direct force of the iVtlantic gales.
The lowland nature of most of the peninsula and the existence of a soil cover which offers possibilities of cultivation
has attracted a dense agricultural population which is concentrated mainly on* the areas of drift bordering Blacksod
Bay. In the north, the settlement is discontinuous, for here
the land is either barren hillside or blanket bog and the main
concentrations are in the depression partially occupied by
Termoncarrig lake and near the Moyrahan valley. Along the
west coast, extensive sand hill areas are empty of people though
they are economically important in that they provide grazing
rights which are shared in common by the people of the
adjoining townlands. In the extreme south, the crest of the barren granite hill stands out as a negative area but, in contrast,
the lower slopes have an exceptionally dense settlement (Fig. 2).
Everywhere, the land gives evidence of the work of the Land
Commission ; for with the exception of one small area in
the north, the whole peninsula has been replanned in recent
times. The work has mainly been in the consolidation of
fragmentary holdings, the building of new access roads and
the erection of new dwelling houses either directly or through
the provision of generous grants of money. The effect of the
planning has been to increase the degree of dispersion, for
the reorganisation of the land had led to the disappearance
of a number of loosely-knit agricultural villages such as existed
formerly at Aghadoon, Carrick, Rinanagh, Leam, Termon
and Fallmore, because the inhabitants have been moved
to their new allotments. The work of the commissioners
has been facilitated by the existence of some untenanted land,
unusual in the west of Ireland, which was available for distribution but, even with this, some 99% of the holdings are
3
THE MULLET PENINSULA^
' *
DENSITY OF POPUI ATIDM 1Q51
BROAD
LpeapLe
HAVEN
O
FIG.
2
Based on the Ordnance Survey by permission of the Minister for Finance.
(For AGLEAM read AGHLEAM)
4
uneconomic and additional sources of income for the farmers
are necessary. Settlement problems have been aggravated
by the necessity for finding room for families from Inishkea
North and South, which arose when these islands were
abandoned in 1934. The islanders have been settled in new
groups rather than among the older settlers and account for
the major cluster at Glash on the extreme south-west of the
peninsula.
The southern part of the peninsula
This part of the peninsula is Irish speaking and the farming
is mainly carried out at a subsistence level. The farms average
12 acres in size though there is one of 30 acres and others
with as little as two. The land, on the whole, is poor. Barley,
hay and oats are grown and there are some cattle and sheep,
the former fetching a good price at the present time. There
is no butter, milk or other farm produce for sale, and incomes
are supplemented by fishing, temporary migration and remittances from abroad. The settlement pattern is interesting,
especially in the vicinity of Fallmore (Fig. 3), where recent
land division and consolidation has almost completely obliterated the old village. The long strips of land stretching
outwards from the new houses are characteristic of similar
schemes throughout the peninsula. West of Fallmore, at
Glash, are the houses of the islanders and others who are
actively engaged in fishing. Some of these families have as
little as two acres of land but to this must be added the land
which they still hold on the islands and use during the summer months. The geographical centre of this southern area
is Aghleam, a small cluster of houses around a primary school
which has about 200 pupils. A new technical school is also
located here with night classes in woodwork and home improvement. The carpentry is of a high standard and it is
hoped to extend the work of the school by adding cookery
classes when more room is available. There is no shopping
centre, and the people are supplied by vans from Belmullet,
eleven miles away, where they also go to shop on fair day.
A cluster of houses at Blacksod, facing Blacksod Bay, has
an inn and shop, and this quarter is of importance because it is
the main fishing centre. Mackerel, which may be salted when
plentiful, and pollack are most commonly caught but the
lobster fishing is more profitable. The lobster fishing season
lasts from May to September and the entire catch, from all
parts of the peninsula, is sent to France direct from Blacksod ;
this may amount to 300 to 400 dozen per week during a good
season. Lobsters fetch £2 10s. to £3 10s. per dozen and the
5
FALLMORE
A?'?'':
/..-s •'••'•'/
•V-.- /
• • "
-
•
-
•-
* • • .
•
COTTAGES
BOUNDARIES
•Kl
ARABLE, LAND
—_r_r- ROIIGHPA.9TURF
FIG. 3
Based on the Ordnance Survey by permission of the Minister for Finance
6
crayfish £4 to £5 per dozen so that a boat, which is usually
manned by four men, may earn £150 to {200 in a fortnight.
The agent is a local man who arranges for the shipment of the
fish on a French boat which calls twice a month. A French
concern has also provided the local people with a fishing boat.
In general, the well organised seasonal migration for harvesting in eastern England and the local lobster fisheries give
sufficient employment for the men, but there is little or nothing
for the young women to do so they migrate permanently
to Britain as nurses, waitresses or domestic servants. There
is a serious lack of fuel, for the peat deposits have all been
used up, and it is necessary to purchase peat from the northern
part of the peninsula. Bottle gas, recently introduced, is
proving to be popular and the electrification of the area is
nearly complete.
The central part of the peninsula
The central part of the peninsula has a sandy, featureless
coastline on the west and heavily silted up inlets on the east.
Agriculture, therfore, is more important than fishing. Throughout the area there has been land division and replanning. The
inhabitants of the old village of Leam, for example, are now
settled on 10-14 acre farms in the vicinity and, farther north,
the inhabitants of Rinanagh have also been redistributed
in like fashion. Wide areas of grass-covered sandhills provide
common grazing for the cattle of many of the farmers '.
but the grass is too ' sweet' to allow cattle to develop without
supplementary feeding and, in any case, much of it is already
heavily overgrazed with the result that in places the vegetation
cover has given way to expose bare sand. The farm crops
include rye, barley, hay and oats though the last do not do
well. Towards the north, in the townland of Emlybeg, the
land is richer and here oats do rather better than elsewhere
and are grown with barley and hay but there is also some
specialisation in the production of potatoes and vegetables
for Belmullet town. The few turf banks in the area are practically worked out and so some farmers rent banks in the northern
part of the peninsula. Sea rod (Laminaria digitata) is collected
and sent to Carna, Co. Galway, and some carrigeen is also
obtained ; but apart from these the only non-agricultural
employment is given by a toy factory at Elly Bay which
employs 30 to 35 girls who earn £5 to £10 a fortnight on
piece work. This factory uses no local material. Distribution
is either by post or by its own van. The chief settlement centre
in the area is Binghamstown which was once a town with 673
7
inhabitants but is now only a collection of about half a dozen
dwelling houses in addition to a chapel, post office and public
house. It has a straight street and is a planned village which
never came to anything/for when Belmullet town was founded
in 1825 the latter proved to be a much more satisfactory
centre and is now the only ' town ' of the peninsula. A pier,
now derelict, built on Saleen Bay one mile to the south of
Binghamstown was once used to export grain direct "to Westport.
The northern part of the peninsula
This is the largest and most varied part of the peninsula.
The southern half of it is rolling country which extends to
-the north and west of Belmullet town. The land rises in places
to 150 feet O.D. and is underlain by mica-schist covered with
a thin but persistent drift cover. Throughout this area
there is cultivation and settlement. Its western portion is
penetrated by a number of rocky inlets one of which, Scotch
Bay, is used by boats fishing for lobsters, but the existence
of a fine storm beach at its head suggests that it is dangerously
open to the north-westerly gales. The land hereabouts was
reorganised about 1940. Only very few of the old cottages
remain, for extensive rebuilding, now nearly complete, has
provided new houses on the striped holdings. The farms,
which average about 12 acres in size, may have from 50 to
70 per cent of the improved land under cultivation, mainly
oats and potatoes. Cattle are kept, someoncommon grazing, and
hay being in short supply is often bought. Pigs are becoming
increasingly popular and geese are often to be seen on the
rough pasture. The farmers have turbary rights on the bogs
to the north and each family may keep two cattle on a wide
-expanse of common grazing land to the south of which some
is swampy ground around the shallow and partially drained
Termoncarrig lake but most is on the sandhills. Some
of this land has been taken in for new settlements by the Land
Commission, especially to the east of Termoncarrig Lake and on
Annagh Head. Settlement is mainly dispersed, but close to
the lake, at Corclogh, there is still a cluster of houses and a
school which are the remnants of a more extensive settlement
in the past. Here a large two-storey building with a slate roof
stands in contrast with the cottages. It was built by the
Irish Lights Commissioners to house families on leave from
the lighthouses of north-west Mayo but is no longer used for
this purpose.
Nearer to Belmullet town there are larger farms, some of
•them of more than 100 acres in size, and there is slight special8
isation in milk production. The crops are oats, potatoes and
hay, and the livestock includes cattle, sheep and pigs. Near
Cam, a copious supply of soft water comes from springs in the
sandhills and is piped to Belmullet for the town supply. East
of Belmullet, the broad north-south drowned inlet of the Moyrahan river isolates the townlands of Moyrahan and Shanaghy
from the rest of this populated strip. Both these townlands
have a large proportion of bogland and rough pasture, but
their southern portions contain some formerly untenanted
land which was acquired and striped by the Land Commission
which has also built new access roads and attracted settlement.
North of this east-west populated axis, quartzite outcrops
widely and the landscape is dominated by blanket bog.
Isolated settlements occur in favoured localities. Within
each of these cultivated enclaves there was much fragmentation
of holdings, but now all but one have been stripped and reorganised by the Commissioners. Turf plays an important
part in the economy and each farm has a regular income from
turf production, though the demand for it has recently declined. A dangerous, open coastline with 100 to 300 foot
cliffs prevents easy access to the sea on the north, but to the
north-east, around Ballyglass and Knockalina, where the
greatest extent of agricultural land lies, the land slopes
to the calm waters of Blind Harbour and Broad Haven
where there is lobster fishing from boats that are said to be
too small to be efficient. Spanish and Welsh boats use this
bay for shelter and the Spaniards frequently buy supplies
in Belmullet town. Hens are often given to the trawlermen
in exchange for fish, and eggs are sold to them when there
are any to spare. The farms of this part are typical of the
whole. Oats, potatoes and some rye are grown, and hay is an
important crop. Cattle and some sheep are kept on the commonage. Of the more isolated settlements, the most interesting is Glenlara, under Erris Head, where the entire population
has been settled within the last thirty years (Fig. 4). One
family came from Bangor Erris and the remainder from the
islands. Some fishing combined with turf production, supplemented by subsistence farming, is the main pattern of life.
Throughout the whole of this area there is a sense of isolation
which is entirely absent from the more southern parts of the
peninsula.
The Town of Belmullet
With the beginning of the projected road from Castlebar
to Belmullet in 1817, Major Bingham, a prominent landowner
in the area, set about building a town within the Mullet at
9
GLENLARA
1917
•185" .
•
COTTAGES
•-••••'— BOUNDARIES
- - -
ROUGH PASTURE
ROAD
<,*•
•
COTTAGES
•••/•.. BOUNDARIES
ARABLE LAND
TURFCUTTING
> - ROUGH PASTURE
FIG.
4
Based on the Ordnance Survey by permission of the Minister for Finance.
10
Ballymacsherron, subsequently called Binghamstown. This
town flourished for a few years and had patents for fairs and
a market, but it was badly located to serve the peninsula as a
whole and it decayed rapidly when a second town was begun
in 1825 on the narrow isthmus joining the Mullet to the
mainland. In 1822 the latter site had been chosen as the headquarters of the command of the coastguard, and when William
Carter, the main proprietor of north-east Mayo, visited the
place in 1824 he was much impressed by the possibilities of
the site and had plans drawn up for a town which was commenced in the following year. This town grew rapidly and
soon took the trade of Binghamstown. As originally designed
there was a main street a quarter of a mile long stretching from
the west of the head of Broad Haven to the head of Blacksod
Bay. These plans were followed, and within ten years the
population reached 585 and there were 120 houses, 73 of
which were two-storey slated buildings. It had become
necessary to lay out additional streets at right angles to the
main one, and a map of the town prepared by Mr. Knight
in 1834 showed plans for a further expansion to the north and
a proposed channel cutting through the town to link the heads
of the two bays to aid the development of the place as a port.
Strong arguments were put forward at that time for making
Belmullet the terminus of a railway from Dublin and the
station for
carrying on correspondence and trade with North
America.2
The rectangular layout of the modern town differs little from
that shown on Knight's map. The mid-nineteenth century development was slight and followed the proposed plan except
in two important respects. The canal, when finally constructed,
lay to the north of the line suggested by Knight, and the port,
of which so much was expected, never came to anything.
Broad Haven and Blacksod Bays were too shallow for the
ever-increasing size of transatlantic boats, and the railway,
upon which so much depended, was never built.
The modern town with its 676 inhabitants is little bigger
than it was ten years after its foundation and its only function
is that of a collecting and distributing centre for the thickly
populated peninsula and a wide area of the thinly populated
mainland to the east. In the original design, Carter Square
was, presumably, intended to be the centre of the town, but
owing to the fact that American Street (formerly Davis
Street) which leads northwards from it was blocked when
the canal was built, this street became a backwater and its
trade was deflected to Chapel Street which leads to the bridge
11
SHOPS
SCHOOLS. HOTFLS. PUBLIC
BUILDINOS g. OFFICFS
K"&\
HALLS. STORES.
FACTORIES Ete.
0WELLIN6
HOUSFS
-SCALE OF MM F S . .
EMPTY OR OERELirT
BUILDINOS
FIG.
5
Based on the Ordnance Survey by permission of the Minister for Finance.
12
across the canal and is the only road link with the peninsula.
The most decayed part of the town is to the east of American
Street.where the planned dock installations never materialised.
Recent building has taken place to the south outside the town
boundary and, to a lesser extent, across the bridge on the
peninsula.
The function of Belmullet is reflected in the shops and
services which it provides. Fifteen shops deal mainly in the
provision trade. There are seven drapers, four hardware
stores, five butchers, three chemists and two shoe shops.
At least ten of these shops have public houses attached. The
wholesale trade is dominated by one family concern, established
in 1897, which employs about 70 people and has ten lorries
and three vans working over a radius of more than 20 miles.
The nearest rivals to .this business are in Ballina and Claremorris 40 and 64 miles away respectively. This same firm
has a bottling business and a general store which includes
hardware, furniture, builder's supplies, a licensed bar and a
travel agency. Additional lines include a carpenter's shop
with 5 carpenters and the haulage of turf for much of Mayo
and occasionally farther afield. Other industries in the town
include a bakery which supplements supplies which come from
Ballina, and the small knitwear factory owned by Gaeltarra
Eireann.
Services include a hospital located in the old workhouse
on a hill to the north of the town which is staffed by a doctor
and five nurses. It is inadequately equipped and all serious
cases are sent to the county hospital at Castlebar.
There are national schools for boys and girls with 300 pupils
and a secondary school for girls, but none for boys, who have
to go to Ballina. A technical school teaches various arts and
crafts as well as English, Irish and mathematics. A bank,
offices for social welfare and for the Land Commission, and a
flourishing monthly fair complete the picture and emphasise
the importance of the town as a minor regional capital.
On the recreational side there is a cinema which functions
on two nights a week, a commercial dance hall, two amateur
dramatic societies, a tennis club, a golf course without a club
house, and a football club. Belmullet town can scarcely be
called a tourist centre for it has only one hotel and one guesthouse, but it has attractive surroundings' and the peninsula
has some fine but rather isolated beaches. It is possible that,
with better transport, this aspect could be developed.
CONCLUSION
Altogether 4,900 people live on the isthmus and adjoining
peninsula.3 Of these, little more than 13% live in the town
and the rest are widely distributed over the rural landscape.
Uneconomic farm size is compensated, to some extent, by
temporary migration for harvesting, by fishing and by the
utilisation of the peat reserves. The uniformity imprinted
on the landscape by the Land Commission is reflected in the
similarity of the new farm houses and the farm size, but these
things are offset by the wide variety in the topography which
prevents absolute uniformity in the layout of the fields and
the development of the farmland. Furthermore, land use is
clearly controlled by current economic conditions within the
limits of the productivity of the soil. Beef cattle are profitable
at the moment owing to the low incidence of T.B. in the
herds of this part of the country. Almost every farm has
about half an acre of barley because of a recent arrangement
by the government to supply, for £15, barley seed, certified
potato seed and a breeding sow. Rye, more suited to the soil
than oats, is also grown and is cut green for cattle feed.
The extreme isolation of the Mullet has helped to give its
inhabitants a sense of unity and solidarity while, at the same
time, a high population density has ensured that there is no
real loneliness. The temporary migration of menfolk for harvests in England and elsewhere gives outside contacts without
disrupting the family unit and, in this respect, the area resembles Donegal rather than Galway or Kerry where the
movement out tends to be permanent. It is unfortunate that
young girls increasingly leave home to work abroad, but there
is little for them to do on the peninsula. The Mullet is one
of the few western areas where the flight from the land has
been kept in check and where the population has remained
relatively stable. Its seven national schools have, between
them, nearly 900 children. This augurs well for the future
and is a measure of the vitality of the region which is in strong
contrast to many other rural areas in Ireland.
REFERENCES
1
Monthly Weather Reports, 1957. Department of Industry and
Commerce, Meteorological Service, Dublin. Note that Bulmullet
meteorological
station replaced that at Blacksod in October 1956.
2
Knight, P., Erris in the " Irish Highlands," Dublin 1836.
3
Census of population of Ireland, 1951, Vol. 1.
14
Note
The mateiial used in this paper was collected by members of the
Geographical Society of Ireland during a visit to Belmullet in July,
1958. The party consisted of Miss S. Carolan, Mr. T. A. Callanan, Mr.
G. T. Colton, Dr. A. Farrington, Mr. S. Ford, Mr. J. A. K. Grahame,
Mr. T. Jones Hughes, Miss M. Hayes, Mrs. B.A. Kelly, Mrs. H.
Kerrigan, Miss N. Richards, Mr. F. M. Synge, Mrs. W. Whelan. The
Author of this paper, who was responsible for the general direction of
the work, gratefully acknowledges the help given by these members of
the party and especially those who were resident in the area. Our
cordial thanks also is due to the people of the peninsula who so readily
cooperated in this study.
15