Basin countries Ireland | Ocean/sea source Atlantic Ocean | |
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Great western greenway clew bay bike hire westport county mayo
Clew Bay (Irish: Cuan Mó) is a natural ocean bay in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick to the south and the Nephin Range mountains of North Mayo. Clare Island guards the entrance of the bay. From the southwest part of the bay eastwards are Louisburgh, Lecanvey, Murrisk, and Westport; north of Westport is Newport, and westwards from there lies Mulranny, gateway to Achill. From the south side of the bay, between Clare Island and Achill, Bills Rocks can be seen.
Contents
- Great western greenway clew bay bike hire westport county mayo
- Map of Clew Bay Ireland
- HistoryEdit
- Inishgort LighthouseEdit
- Fish Farming in Clew BayEdit
- Islands of Clew BayEdit
- Drumlin islands sandbars and rocksEdit
- Other projectsEdit
- References
Map of Clew Bay, Ireland
HistoryEdit
Clew Bay was the focus of the O'Malley family possessions in the Middle Ages, and is associated especially with Grace O'Malley or Granuaile. She is known as the Pirate Queen who commanded a fleet of ships and maintained several castles, including those on Clare Island, Achill and Rockfleet.
During the Irish Civil War in July 1922, 400 Free State troops were landed at Clew Bay to take Westport and Castlebar from Anti-Treaty forces.
Inishgort LighthouseEdit
Stands on Inishgort island 5 km from Murrisk.
Fish Farming in Clew BayEdit
In recent years there has been controversy over fish-farming in the bay. "The Organic Salmon Company" is based in Clare Island.
Islands of Clew BayEdit
The bay is also home to Dorinish, a private island purchased by John Lennon in 1967. Glenans Ireland, a non-profit sailing school, had a branch on Collanmore Island where sailing was taught.
Legend has it that Clew Bay has 365 islands in it—"an island for every day of the year". The large number of drumlins at the east end of the bay gave rise to this myth, but in fact there are not so many.
Drumlin islands, sandbars, and rocksEdit
This chart shows the relative positions of the islands, sandbars, and rocks in the eastern half of Clew Bay. There are 117.
Other projectsEdit
Media related to Clew Bay at Wikimedia Commons