Kilcommon
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Kilcommon Cill Chomain
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| Parish | |
 Kilcommon
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| Coordinates: 54°15′49″N 9°47′45″W / 54.2635°N 9.7959°WCoordinates: 54°15′49″N 9°47′45″W / 54.2635°N 9.7959°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Mayo |
| Elevation | 00 m (0 ft) |
| Irish Grid Reference | F820374 |
Kilcommon (Irish: Cill Chomáin) is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitation is concentrated mainly along both sides of Sruwaddacon Bay which flows into Broadhaven Bay, in villages including Glengad, Pollathomas, Rossport, Inver and Carrowteige, and in the Glenamoy area further inland.
Kilcommon parish takes it name from St. Comán who lived around the end of the sixth century AD. The saint is allegedly buried in the old church yard at Pollatomais, near to the entrance where the walls of the old Church can still be seen. In the Ordnance Survey Letters of 1838 (O'Donovan), the writers says "of the old church itself only a part of one gable remains from which little can be learned of its style or age".
Much of the Kilcommon landscape of elevated moorland, borders the Atlantic coast. It is a wild and rugged landscape with large tracts of blanket bog, tiny isolated villages, white sandy beaches and towering cliffs of Benwee Head which, for thousands of years has remained relatively unscathed by overdevelopment by successive generations of Kilcommon inhabitants. Farming is small scale non-intensive. Situated at the mouth of Broadhaven Bay, on its 21st century surface, Kilcommon is characterised by its scenery, huge towering cliffs and rugged sea stacks interspersed with miles of white sandy beaches, tranquil islands and vast tracts of blanket bog with its rare and fragile biodiversity. Unlike the west of Ireland landscape further south in Galway and Clare, there are few huge rocks randomly scattered across this landscape.
The blanket bog dominates the landscape changing its hues and texture in accordance with the seasons – sometimes fresh and brightest green, sometimes purple and gold and covered with billowing white bog cotton, and, in November and December, the wonderful rustic tones of golden orange/red species light up the winter landscape. At all times the bog is a living habitat for many species of insects, spiders and plants for whom this is the perfect habitat not found anywhere else. Grey fronted geese fly across on their way to their breeding grounds further north and it is possible to spot the corncrake and the rare red-necked phalarope whose only breeding ground left in Ireland is in this remote corner of the country.
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Wikipedia