Clew Bay
Encyclopedia
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. According to tradition, there is an island in the bay for every day of the year. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick
Croagh Patrick
Croagh Patrick , nicknamed the Reek, is a tall mountain and an important site of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. It is from Westport, above the villages of Murrisk and Lecanvey. It is the third highest mountain in County Mayo after Mweelrea and Nephin. On "Reek Sunday", the last...
, Ireland's holy mountain, and the mountains of North Mayo. Clare Island
Clare Island
Clare Island is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It is famous as the home of the pirate queen, Gráinne O'Malley...
guards the entrance of the bay. From the southwest part of the bay eastwards are Louisburgh
Louisburgh, County Mayo
Louisburgh is a small town on the southwest corner of Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It is home to Sancta Maria College and the Gráinne O'Malley Interpretive Centre.-History:...
, Lecanvey
Lecanvey
Lecanvey or Leckanvy is a seaside village in County Mayo, Ireland, between Westport and Louisburgh, about 2 km west of Murrisk. It has a small beach with Lecanvey Pier. To the south is Croagh Patrick...
, Murrisk
Murrisk
Murrisk is one of the Baronial divisions of County Mayo and also a village in County Mayo, Ireland, on the south side of Clew Bay, about 8 km west of Westport and 4 km east of Lecanvey....
, and Westport
Westport, County Mayo
Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....
; north of Westport is Newport
Newport, County Mayo
Newport, historically known as Ballyveaghan , is a small picturesque town in the Barony of Burrishoole County Mayo, Ireland with a population of 590 in 2006. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along the shore of Clew Bay, north of Westport. The N59 road passes through the town. The...
, and westwards from there lies Mulranny
Mulranny
Mallaranny —sometimes spelt as Malaranny, Mullaranny, Mullranny or Mulranny—is a seaside village on the isthmus between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Mallaranny is the home of colourful giant fuchsias and exotic plants...
, gateway to Achill. From the south side of the bay, between Clare Island and Achill, Bills Rocks can be seen.
Clew Bay was the focus of the O'Malley family possessions in the Middle Ages, and is associated especially with Gráinne O'Malley. During the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
in July 1922, 400 Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
troops were landed at Clew Bay to take Westport and Castlebar
Castlebar
Castlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population. The town's population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by one-third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years...
from Anti-Treaty forces. The bay is also home to Dorinish
Dorinish
Dorinish is an uninhabited island in Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It has colloquially been known as "Beatle Island" after Beatle John Lennon purchased the island in 1967 for £1,700. Previously used by sailing ships for its stones, the island became a place of peace for Lennon and his family...
, a private island
Private island
A private island is a disconnected body of land wholly owned by a single private citizen or corporation. Although this exclusivity gives the owner substantial control over the property, they still fall within the jurisdiction of national and sometimes local governments.-Ownership:There are many...
purchased by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
in 1967. Les Glénans
Les Glénans
Les Glénans is a famous French sailing school, operating as a non-profit organization. Most of its instructors are volunteers. It was founded in 1947 by Philippe and Hélène Viannay, who had been involved with the French Resistance during World War II. Its first site was the Glénan archipelago,...
, a non-profit sailing school, has a branch on Collanmore Island
Collanmore Island
Collanmore Island is an island off the west coast of Ireland. One of the larger of the islands in Clew Bay, Collanmore Island is a base of Les Glénans, a non-profit sailing school. The base teaches dinghy and catamaran sailing and sail-boarding. Collanmore enjoys magnificent views of Croagh Patrick...
where sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
on dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
s, sailboards and catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
s is taught. In recent years there has been controversy over fish-farming in the bay.
Panorama
