Why does Mulranny keep appearing in Irish Literature?

“Cornelius enters, red-faced, and in a fluster- 
This is not a happy day for the Mercedes, John. 
Oh?
Exhaust is crooked on it again. There’s a man in Mulranny might fix it and drop it up to us tonight but he is not a reliable man and he suffers from fainting fits.
I see.
The worse news is I think the van’s on the way out as well.
Tea is made. They wait on the man from Mulranny. There is dangerous talk of black pudding sandwiches. “ 
 
This passage is from Beatlebone by Kevin Barry. In Beatlebone, John Lennon is trying to get to the island he bought that would bring peace and renewal and whatever other healing properties a sojourn on a windy, ravished island in Clew Bay should bring. Getting there is not a straightforward affair though. John has somehow entrusted his lot to Cornelius, a wily, silver-tongued Mayo man with a never-ending supply of surprising resources.
They course around Mayo but it is Mulranny that seems to stand out in this fabulous work. Mention of Mulranny could be put down to a once-off event if it wasn’t for the fact that Mulranny seems to be taking centre stage in other contemporary works of Irish literature.
Another good example of Mulranny making an appearance in Irish literature is in Solar Bones by Mike McCormack:

“...with the sun high in the sky as the road ahead ploughed through the blue air, disappearing into the day’s depth along the lower slopes of Croagh Patrick on my right and the green sea to the left, such a vivid wash of light off the mountains that I recognised it immediately as one of those startling days when the beauty of this whole area is new again, the harmony and coherence of all its shades and colours washing down to the sea which was laid out like a mirror all the way across the bay to Achill Island and Mulranny, one of those days which makes you wonder how we could ever be forgetful of it because that is what happens, driving this coast road so often from Louisburgh to Westport, my morning route to work with its mountains falling through a chroma of blues and greens into the shallow, glaciated inlet of Clew Bay . . .” 
 
Once again, there is deference to Mulranny as if it has a special place in the psyche of the book’s protagonist. And it does, but it is not only Mike McCormack and Kevin Barry who rumble this Mayo beauty spot. There have been others and not only writers from Ireland.
Graham Grrene became familiar with Mulranny through visits to his lover, Catherine Walston, who had a house in Dooagh. Heinrich Böll had a cottage at Dugort after first arriving in west Mayo in the 1950s. Another famous visitor to the area was Ernie O’Malley, a former participant in the civil war and writer of revolutionary literature. Possibly these figures were inspired by J. M. Synge who profiled the west of Ireland through his work, the most noteworthy being The Playboy of the Western World.

One way or another, Mulranny receives above odds references in literary works so we want to know why this is the case? What is the attraction to Mulranny? For what special reason does it get a mention? What’s the deal? Most of all let us know if you have come across Mulranny in works of Irish literature apart from the ones covered above.    

Photo: Heinrich Böll at Dugort in the 1960s