GREAT IRISH DRIVES DELPHI TO LEENANE:THE ORACLE OF DELPHI was famous in classical literature for the obscure and ambiguous nature of its foretelling, which perhaps is a clue to why this spectacular part of Co Mayo was thus named by the marquis of Sligo, who built a famous hunting lodge here.
Its Irish name is Fionnloch – White Lake – but it is the pseudoclassical name that has stuck and by which it is best known today.
It is impossible to exaggerate the beauty of the mountain scenery that surrounds Delphi, situated at the head of tiny Fin Lough and almost encircled by some of the greatest mountains in Connemara.
Approached from the north, the R335 first skirts Doo Lough before running beside the Owengall river and reaching the sylvan oasis that is Delphi. To the southeast rise Ben Creggan (687m) and Ben Gorm (700m); to the northwest rise the magnificent Mweelrea Mountains, surely the most beautiful and spectacular peaks in this spectacular region.
After skirting Fin Lough the R335 runs due south alongside the Bundorragha river for a number of kilometres before meeting an inlet of Killary Harbour at Bundorragha, the place from which the river takes its name.
Turning now to the east towards Leenane, the southern slopes of Ben Gorm rise ever higher to squeeze the road between mountain and sea, in the process providing unforgettable views. To the south, across the water, lie the Maumturk Mountains; to the east lies the wonderfully named Devilsmother (645m).
The road continues through Gar’s Glen before turning northeast towards Aasleagh Bridge, at the head of Killary Harbour, only a short distance from Aasleagh Falls.
The deep water of Killary does not form a harbour in the accepted sense; rather, it is a deep, long inlet that comes in from the Atlantic to meet the River Erriff, and as such it is the best example of a glacial fjord in Ireland, the only others being Lough Swilly and Carlingford Lough. About 16km long and a kilometre wide for most of its length, in places it is up to 45m deep.
Killary’s Irish name is Caoláire: the Narrow Sea Inlet. In days gone by its deep waters provided anchorages for the British navy. Today its brooding waters, which divide Co Mayo from Co Galway, are host to many fishing and pleasure boats.
Shortly after leaving Aasleagh Bridge the R335 meets the N59, which links Westport to Letterfrack and then goes on to Clifden. A short distance along the N59 on the southern shore of Killary is the picturesque and busy town of Leenane, which takes its name from the Irish Líonán: the Tide Filling Spot.
It was here that the 1990 film The Field, starring Richard Harris and John Hurt, was shot. Martin McDonagh's trilogy of plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemaraand The Lonesome Westis also set here.
On a different note, in July 2007, after torrential rain, the bridge at the centre of the village was swept away. Part of the N59 national secondary road, it had stood there for 182 years; it has now been replaced.
Falling under the spell of this region is all too easy, and the road from Delphi to Leenane encompasses much of what is special about the area: spectacular high mountains; the Atlantic never far away; unexpected oases of greenery, such as Delphi; charming towns and villages, such as Leenane, with an air of remoteness; superb roads with little traffic; and, most of all, a sense of the elemental so missing from all our modern lives.
Is it any wonder that those who discover this part of the west of Ireland are drawn back again and again?