Erris

Erris Iorras
Barony
IST (WEST ))
Dialing code	+353 41

Erris is a

There are five

.

Gaeltacht

Parts of Erris are in a Gaeltacht area, with first-language speakers of Irish in the following areas of the barony: An Fál Mór, Tamhaiin na hUltaí, Glais, Eachléim, Tearmann, Tránn, An Mullach Rua, Cartúr, An Baile Úr, Cill Ghallagáin, Corrán Buí, Ceathrú na gCloch, Port a' Chluaidh, Ros Dumhach and Ceathrú Thaidhg. The area with the most Irish speakers is Ceathrú Thaidhg.^[4] There are between 3,500-5,000 native Irish speakers in Erris.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Topography and geology

Much of inland Erris is covered with

Several areas of the blanket bog are protected under European legislation such as

.

Erris has a large range of habitats including

The oldest rocks in

"Erris Head" (Irish: Ceann Iorrais) is a promontory at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula. It is a landmark known well by mariners and is one of the sea areas cited by Met Éireann's weather forecasters.^[12] The coastline of Erris has some of "the grandest sea cliffs in Ireland"^[13] over the Atlantic Ocean from where the next stop is the east coast of America. Erris Head is not served by any road and can only be reached by crossing a number of fields from the hamlet of Glenlara where the road ends.

Settlements and islands

Along the coast there are several uninhabited

Archaeology and history

Erris, in common with most of inland Ireland, became covered in extensive native woodland a few thousand years after the last Ice Age retreated (approx 15,000 years ago) but its northern and western shores remained relatively lightly afforested. Across inland Erris, the remains of these forests can be seen across the blanket bog landscape in the form of

can be found too.

During the

maps.

The period of

of 1845 - '47 many died in Erris despite the close proximity of the sea, because they could not raise the cash to fund a passage to America.

Some 19th- and early 20th-century

concerns the Barony of Erris in the time period of approx the 1st century AD.

Rescue 116 search

The community of Erris gave support to the extensive search and rescue operation following the

Legend and folklore

Folklore is an important part of the culture of Erris.[23]^[24]

A number of well-known folklore tales have their origins in (or are associated with) the area. The Children of Lir, according to tradition, are buried on the island of Inisglora. The children were turned into swans by their jealous stepmother and doomed to spend the next 900 years on lakes and waters in Ireland. When they finally reclaimed their human form on Inisglora, they were so old that they died and were buried there.

Táin Bó Flidhais is the tale of a cattle raid in which raiders came to Erris from the Royal site at Cruachán (Rathcroghan) at Tulsk, County Roscommon to Rathmorgan Fort (Iorras Domhnann) at the south end of Carrowmore Lake in the centre of the Barony. The remains of Rathmorgan fort on top of the mountain can be seen from the road below.^[25]

Brian Rua U'Cearbhain from Inver is remembered in folklore as the prophet of Erris.

The small village of Glencastle has some large mounds in the narrow valley that are not naturally occurring. They can be seen on the right hand side, close to the roadside on the approach to Belmullet from the east. These have never been archaeologically investigated but folklore legends recall that this was the old gateway into the Mullet and a toll had to be paid for each traveller who passed through or the traveller may never be seen again. There were no roads through this area of Mayo until less than two hundred years ago. In recent years the Glencastle Valley has been drastically altered by extensive quarrying.^[26]

Water sports

Erris is a popular location for many types of

Walking trails

There are a number of walking trails in Erris. These include cliff walks above the

In 1993, the Tír Sáile Sculpture Trail project was carried out to commemorate 5,000 years of habitation in County Mayo.

Natural resources

Erris has considerable potential for ocean energy

Corrib gas field

The discovery of the Corrib gas field in the Atlantic Ocean some 85 km off Broadhaven Bay has led to the

, to a refinery 10 km inland. Documentaries have been made on the subject .^[36] A documentary film, The Pipe by local film-maker, Richard O'Donnell, had its first showing at the Galway Film Festival on Thursday 8 July 2010, went on general release in cinemas nationwide from 3 December 2010.^[37]

Further reading

• Cronin, Phil. Traditional Cures and Gifted People (2000) Crossmolina
• Noone, Fr. S. Where the Sun Sets] (1991) Erris [1]
• Pipe Down - A documentary which won best feature documentary award at the Waterford Film Festival (2009)[2]

References