Overview
Maam Cross means ‘the burned house’ – an Teach Dóite – after a thatched lodge that burned near here around 1839. The crossroads has been a meeting point in the middle of Connemara ever since, where the N59 Galway to Clifden road meets the R336, which heads into the Maam Valley, west of Galway City. This is old Joyce Country, named for the Anglo-Norman family who settled the Barony of Ross in the 13th century, and the landscape is still rough, open and largely uncultivated.
Maam Cross rewards timing and a plan: it is a crossroads and a base for the surrounding hills and valley rather than a sight in itself.
The Connemara Railway Project
The old railway station is a restoration rather than a working line, so there are no trains to catch. The original Maam Cross station opened in July 1895 as one stop on the Galway to Clifden railway. Built in the 1890s with government backing as one of the ‘Balfour lines’, it was meant to open up the congested districts of the west.
The line outlasted the War of Independence but closed on 27 April 1935 in the depression; the track was lifted by 1938, and the station later housed a seaweed factory and storage. In 2017 the Connemara Railway Project set out to bring it back as a living-history attraction. The project is restoring railway buildings and track.
Check with the project before planning a station visit, and enter only when it is open to visitors. For progress and visitor arrangements, see the official site: connemararailway.ie.
Markets, fairs and community life
Maam Cross has long been a commercial hub for the surrounding townlands, with a livestock mart and an October fair that draw farmers down from the hills. Check dates and times locally before you go, as events change from year to year.
Exploring the Maam Valley and Maumturks
Head north on the R336 and the ground opens into the Maam Valley, flanked by the Maumturk range, with routes from gentle lakeside paths to hard mountain scrambles. The mountains here are rough and weather changes quickly, so go prepared. Benbaun, the highest of the Twelve Bens, is visible from this part of Connemara. The Bealnabrack River runs nearby.
At Derroura, east of the crossroads, Coillte allows walking and running on the forest roads only. Keep off the singletrack and follow current notices at the entrance. Further west, Connemara National Park has signed walks from its visitor centre near Letterfrack. Kylemore Abbey is also within reach.
Getting there
The N59 gives direct access from Galway City. Check Citylink’s route 923 timetable for the Maam Cross stop and plan the return bus before setting off. Drivers should use signed parking at the place they plan to visit.
The R336 heads north through the Maam Valley toward Leenane; south leads to the Gaeltacht villages of Screebe and Costelloe. The heritage railway is not running scheduled services.