Maum
{{about|the village in Ireland|the restaurant in California|Maum (restaurant)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = An Mám
| other_name = Maum
| settlement_type = Village and townland
| image_skyline = Keane's Bar, Maum, Co. Galway - geograph.org.uk - 585969.jpg
| image_caption = Pub in Maum, County Galway
| pushpin_map = Ireland County Galway#Ireland
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_caption = Map of An Mám in County Galway
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Ireland
| subdivision_type1 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = Connacht
| subdivision_type3 = County
| subdivision_name3 = County Galway
| established_title =
| established_date =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 =
| population_as_of = 2002
| population_footnotes =
| population_total =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone1 = WET
| utc_offset1 = +0
| utc_offset1_DST = -1
| coordinates = {{coord|53.52|-9.57|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 52
| blank_name = Irish Grid Reference
| blank_info = {{iem4ibx|L958533}}
| website =
| footnotes = An Mám is the only official name. The anglicized spelling Maum has no official status.
}}
An Mám (anglicized as Maum, or sometimes Maam){{Cite web |title=An Mám/Maum |url=https://www.logainm.ie/18221.aspx |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Placenames Database of Ireland}} is a small Gaeltacht village and its surrounding lands in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.
Name
An Mám is Irish for "mountain pass"{{Cite web |title=The Maam Valley Today |url=http://www.maamvalley.com/today.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=maamvalley.com}} and as this is a Gaeltacht (principally Irish-speaking) area, the area's name formally exists only in Irish.{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Nicola |date=22 November 2003 |title=Sign of the times: it's Irish only in Gaeltacht |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sign-of-the-times-its-irish-only-in-gaeltacht/25923252.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=Irish Independent}}{{Cite ISB|title=European Union Habitats (Maumturk Mountains Special Area of Conservation 002008) Regulations 2021|year=2021|number=431|type=si|access-date=2 April 2025|stitle=Description of area designated as a Special Area of Conservation|date=27 August 2021}} Use of the English name is still common however.{{Cite news |date=12 November 2022 |title=Maam land aims to set the standard for Wild Atlantic restoration of native trees |url=https://connachttribune.ie/maam-land-aims-to-set-the-standard-for-wild-atlantic-restoration-of-native-trees/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=Connacht Tribune}}{{Cite news |last=Keady |first=Ava |date=6 November 2024 |title=Date confirmed for popular annual Christmas Truck Run along Mayo and Galway border |url=https://www.mayonews.ie/news/local-news/1648906/date-confirmed-for-popular-annual-christmas-truck-run-along-mayo-and-galway-border.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=The Mayo News}}{{Cite web |title=MAAM, GALWAY |url=https://joycecountrygeoparkproject.ie/en/attractions/maam/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Joyce Country & Western Geopark Project}}
Location and access
The village is located at the southern end of the Maam Valley, where it comes to Lough Corrib; the other end lies at Leenaun on Killary Harbour.{{Cite web |title=Explore Maam |url=https://connemara.ie/listing-location/maam/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Connemara.ie}} The settlement lies between where Joyce's River is captured by the larger Bealnabrack River, and where the Failmore River joins that river's mouth at the northern end of the lake. It sits at the edge of a mountainous area, the principal part of which forms the Maumturk or Maamturk Mountains.
An Mám lies north of Maam Cross, an important crossroads from which the main road serving the settlement, and providing a secondary route through the Maam Valley to Leenaun, the R336, comes, splitting off from the R59 Galway to Clifden road. Maam Bridge, built in 1823, takes the R336 across the Bealnabrack River.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}
History
This area formed part of the wider Joyce Country, named for a key family grouping, the Joy family, originally from England, which arrived during the reign of Edward I and dominated the region for centuries after seizing large tracts of land.{{Cite web |title=Welcome To The Maam Valley |url=http://www.maamvalley.com/index.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=maamvalley.com}}
Features
Historically there was a castle in the area, and from the 19th century until 2004, a small courthouse existed in the village. Alexander Nimmo built an inn in 1820 at the eastern end of Maam Bridge,{{Cite news |last=Burke |first=Ray |date=11 September 2023 |title=Alexander Nimmo, whose ‘tolerable village’ in the west of Ireland became ‘Dublin 4 on tour’ |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irish-diary/2023/09/11/piers-of-the-realm-ray-burke-on-engineer-alexander-nimmo/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |work=The Irish Times}}{{Cite web |title=Keanes Pub |url=http://www.maamvalley.com/history11.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=maamvalley.com}} and this later became the Maum Hotel, owned by the family of Lord Leitrim for many years;{{Cite web |last=Quinn |first=James |date=October 2012 |title=Clements, William Sydney |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/clements-william-sydney-a1735 |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |doi=10.3318/dib.001735.v2}} it now operates as Keane's Pub.
Many community facilities are provided from Leenaun. There is free fishing in the river and in the nearer parts of lough corrib.