A unique Neolithic landscape a few miles west of Ballycastle, en route to Belmullet, provides a glimpse into the life they lived. As the oldest known field system in the world, Ceide Fields is a site of world importance.
The medieval Ashford castle in Cong, is one of those structures that are made for intercepting the diagonals of the sun and transforming them into pure serenity. In a park overlooking the boundless Lough Corrib, the mighty outlines of the fortress towers cut through the sky, casting their huge shadows on the lawn. The castle, built in 1228, has for many years now been a hotel and in its long history has been host to many historical figures.
In the townland of Currower east of the Abbey there is an Ogham stone standing 11 feet in height, one of only eight examples known in Co. Mayo.
History buffs are well-catered to in Ireland, with plenty written on the nation’s story by academics, writers and politicians alike. Less frequently does one find a repository of local history, which, carefully selected and curated, make up an impressive archive of the 20th century. The Jackie Clarke Collection is just that.
One of four National Museums of Ireland--and the only one outside of Dublin--this award-winning home of the National Folklife Collection tells the story of country life from 1850 post-Famine to 1950, post-war, eventful and turbulent years.
The Clare Island experience begins at Roonagh Pier, just beyond Louisburgh where a ferry takes you to the island. The trip across satisfyingly long (20 minutes) and choppy enough to provide a sense of adventure from the outset, and if the wind is against you, gives the feeling of battling against the elements.
Grace O’Malley or Granuaile, the so-called ‘Pirate Queen of Mayo’ owned several castles around the
coast, including two which are relatively intact: Rockfleet and Kildavnet.
You could say that the ferry from Roonagh Quay to Clare Island departs from dock 9 ¾. It is actually a small pier, quite unassuming, but from which you reach an amazing place, so much so that the 25-minute trip that separates the mainland from Clare Island seems too short, a destination so beautiful merits a long and arduous journey like in the novels. Clare Island is the largest of the 365 islands that make up the archipelago of Clew Bay - one for each day of the year according to the legend.
Clew Bay, (Cuan Mó) is the large bay in south Mayo punctuated by Achill Island to the north and towns like Mulranny, Newport, Westport, Murrisk, Lecanvey and Louisburgh, with Clare Island like a giant humpback whale, guarding the bay from the wilds of the Atlantic Ocean.
Cong Abbey is a historic site located at Cong, on the borders of counties Galway and Mayo, in Ireland's province of Connacht.
The cross at Doo Lough Pass between Louisburgh and
Leenane is poignant, as it commemorates the fate of a group of starving, desperate people
of all ages, who made a fruitless journey from Louisburgh to Delphi on foot seeking relief.
There are few vistas which take one’s breath away as the Doo Lough Valley does, particularly when approached from Louisburgh, having woven through narrow, winding roads and sheep-populated hills, with traces of long ago dried-up potato beds etched into them. Stone ruins recall the people who dwelled in this remote place.
Protection signifies a common and ancient attribute - love. We protect what we care about, what we think is important, that which has a place in our hearts and we do so with words or with silence, with our hands, our body or with just a cover.
Foxford is a picturesque village on the banks the renowned River Moy. Named Béal Easa, or "mouth of the waterfall", Foxford is situated in the heart of fishing country with the salmon-rich Moy providing superb salmon fishing opportunities and drawing anglers from far and wide with nearby Loughs Conn and Cullin, also offering impressive stores, especially of brown trout.
One of the town’s highlights is the Foxford Woollen Mills, one of the last working mills in
Ireland producing vibrantly coloured wool which is then transformed into magnificent works
of wearable art. Established in 1892, it was the brainchild of Agnes Morrogh-Bernard, a Sister of Charity, who was charged with the task of founding a convent in Foxford.
On 22nd of August 1798, the French General, Jean Joseph Amable Humbert led 1,000 men ashore after their ship sailed into Kilcummin, on the edge of Killala Bay. The French took over the home of Bishop Stock, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Killala, and turned it into their headquarters, before making their way towards Ballina and Castlebar. From here, they plotted their attack on the British in Castlebar.
In Kilkummin you can find the Tir saile is a sculpture trail marking Mayo 5000. There are three sculptures in Kilcummin, one at Kilcummin pier, one at Bar Na Binne and one at the road to the strand.
On 22nd of August 1798, the French General, Jean Joseph Amable Humbert led 1,000 men ashore after their ship sailed into Kilcummin, on the edge of Killala Bay. The French took over the home of Bishop Stock, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Killala, and turned it into their headquarters, before making their way towards Ballina and Castlebar. From here, they plotted their attack on the British in Castlebar.
Killala’s round tower stands tall at over 25 metres in the centre of the town where St. Patrick founded a church around 442 or 443 and appointed St. Muredach as bishop. St. Patrick is said to have baptised 12,000 new converts to Christianity in a single day at a holy well near the town.
Just outside Killala lies the ruins of Moyne Abbey, a Franciscan Friary, which is now a National Monument.
Historical buildings are dotted along Killala bay, including the Dominican Priory 'Rathfran Abbey' dated 1274 AD, Moyne Abbey, Meelick Castle, and Humbert's Rock.
Located on the River Moy, in North Mayo, close to Moyne Abbey and between the towns of Killala and Ballina, Rosserk Friary is possibly the best preserved monastic site in Ireland. It was founded by the Joyce family in the middle of the 15th century for the benefit of the Franciscan Third Order Friars, an order which incorporated laymen into the order as well as female clerics, though Rosserk’s religious community was male only.
To mark the centenary, a memorial park was erected in Lahardane in the parish of Addergoole.
The house is situated between Claremorris and Ballinrobe, on the shores of Lough Carra in Muckloon townland, a location which was considered unlucky by locals when it was built, as it was supposed to have been the site of the ancient slaying of the King of Connacht’s Druid, Drithliu, around 400 A.D.
Blacksod Bay may seem like an unlikely place to have a connection to a strategic World War II operation, but this remote lighthouse on the southern end of the Mullet Peninsula in Erris, on the edge of Europe, far from the action, played a pivotal role in one of the greatest dramas of the 20th century--the D-Day landings in France.
Founded in the 1400’s by Pope Callistus for the Augustinians, the abbey is perched on the gently lapping shore and its ruins and maintained graveyard make for a contemplative and interesting hour or two.
The National Famine Memorial comprises a bronze sculpture of a ship out of which skeletons seem to float upwards, becoming the very sails which propel the ‘Coffin Ship’ which artist John Behan called it to symbolise all the lost lives of the Irish who sailed to America to escape the great famine of 1847.
Mayo’s historical currents meet in intriguing ways in the coastal parish of Burrishoole in Southwest Mayo.Somewhat eclipsed by the latter day and artificially created town of Newport (formerly Newport-Pratt) the suppressed habitation of Burrishoole lives on in the hearts and cultural memories of many in this corner of Mayo.
the feeling that explodes in your chest when you reach the mouth of the River Moy, in Killala Bay, at the most eastern point of the North coast of the County, A feeling that can be described as a wave, a force that permeates through you, created by the interaction with nature and one that whilst not visible, reverberates inside you like the truest of truths.
Ballintubber Abbey has the unique distinction of being in almost continuous use for 800 years, having been founded in 1216. Beside the beautiful stone-built church its ruins and cloisters are good examples of Romanesque architecture. Ballintubber Abbey is the starting point of the ancient pilgrim’s route, known as ‘Tóchar Phádraig’ which passes through Aghagower en route to Croagh Patrick.
Westport House was built by the Browne family in the 18th Century and the family own and run the property to this day. As the ancestral seat of the Marquesses of Sligo, the house has great historical significance. In 1960, Denis, 10th Marquess of Sligo, opened the house and its lush grounds to tourists and since the passing of the 11th Marquess of Sligo in July 2014, the house has passed to his five granddaughters.
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