Introduction to Mayo
Mayo (Davitts County) is one of Irelands wonderful Western Costal Counties which has a rich and at times very sad history. The beauty of Mayo hides the pain of a county which suffered greatly in the Irish famine. Many of Mayo's children left never to return.
A Brief History of Mayo
The history of Mayo begins with the Synod of Whitby in 664, to resolve the conflict between the Celts and the Romans on the date of Easter. Having lost the debate St Colman left Lindisfarne and returned to Iona, later going to Innisboffin and from there to Maigh Eo, later to become known as Mayo of the Saxons.
At the time when St Colman founded Mayo, Ireland was divided into 100 Tuaths (Kingdoms). St Colman was probably a nobleman of Canmaicne. On leaving Innisboffin following a split between the Irish and Saxon monks he was given a site by the king. This was probably a sparsely populated area close to the border of another kingdom, as it happened Mayo was situated on the north of Canmaicne where it bordered the kingdoms of Cera and Magcaeir.
When St Colman came to Mayo he brought with him half the relics of Lindisfarne, including a part of the true cross which was reputed to be in Mayo Abbey till the Reformation in 1537, when it vanished.
The first mentiion of Mayo is in Bede's "History of the English people" in the 10th century.
The Church laws - Lex Innoncentium - by which women were forbidden to take part in the dangers of battle are reputed to be written by Adamnan while in Mayo in 696 - 97. Adamnan's well is still in use today.
The foundation developed links in its first 300 years with Scotland, England, The Lowlands and Germany.By the end of the first millennium, it was an urban community of an estimated 3,000 people with an interactive rural hinterland and a European presence of some importance, both ecclesiastically, with it's monks ranked sixth in importance at the synods of Canterbury, and politically, as noted in the correspondence between it and the Court of Charlemagne King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor (768 - 814) in Aachen. Alcuin the English translator to Charlemagne sought advice from the monks of Mayo on the ecclesiastical reforms of the 770's.
Mayo became a diocese in 1152 and survived till it's union with Tuam in 1631. Bishop Patrick O'Healy who, with Fr Con O'Rourke, was captured by the British in Limerick on their way to Mayo and executed for the faith in Limerick in 1570. They were beatified in 1994. The last Bishop of Mayo was Adam Maguran who went to Nantes in France on unification of the two diocese. Mayo of the Saxons was a place of learning equal to that of Augsburg and Regensburg and others of the period in mainland Europe.
1176 - Donal, brother of Rory O'Connor, last High King of Ireland died and is buried in Mayo Abbey. In 1400 it became an Augustinian Abbey with approx 4,000 acres of land.
In 1619 King James 1 granted a licence to John and Sarah Paulette to distill and sell uisce beaha (whiskey) in the barony of Clanmorris and the County of Mayo. This business is still carried on today in Byrne's pub.
During the penal times the lands were owned by various landlords; Brownes of Brownhall, Blakes of Ballinafad, Kirwans of Galway. During this period the parishioners openly worshipped in defiance of the law inside a church on the site of the Famine church - a 19th century building which is one of few unaltered pre-famine churches in the country.
At the start of the second millennium the course of Irish history changed with the Battle of Clontarf and the defeat of the Vikings. At that time in Europe the Irish were the first people to introduce surnames.
The town of Mayo flourished till the 16th century, when like other towns outside the Pale it declined, but enough remained for Sir Henry Sidney who divided Connaught into counties to name the county of Mayo after the town of Mayo in 1570.
The names of many of the early Saints appear in the Annals as having studied at, or visited Mayo of the Saxons.
When one looks at Mayo Abbey today all one sees is the ruins of a 15th century monastery. Though now a rural community with an Archaeological site of national and international importance Mayo Abbey has been fortunate in that it has laid undisturbed for over 1300 years and is now classed as an Archaeological goldmine by experts in that field.
The old graveyard is a layered graveyard and is in continuous use for over 1300 years.
Mayo Abbey also posesses one of the oldest pub licences in the country.
Areas of Interest in Mayo
Hennigan's Heritage Centre
Hennigan's Heritage Centre is situated in unspoilt countryside overlooking Creagaballa Lake 6.5km from the workhouse at Swinford where thousands of people from the region died during the 19th century due to starvation, and 20km from The Museum of Country Life, Turlough.
Quiet Man Cottage Museum
In 1951 John Ford's greatest movie "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald was made. It was set in the beautiful west of Ireland with filming being centred in the village of Cong on the Mayo-Galway border.
Quiet Man Cottage Museum is a novel concept which will give the visitor a total Quiet Man experience as if they were actually 'on-set'. Located by the river at Circular Road, Cong, between actual locations used for the filming, the ground floor of the cottage has been designed as an exact replica of 'White-o-Mornin' Cottage.
Painstaking effort has ensured that all the furnishings, artifacts, costumes etc are authentic reproductions. The four poster bed and the tables and chairs which 'Mary Kate' cherished, the thatched roof, emerald green half door and white washed front combine to charm all those who visit it.
"Quiet Man Cottage Museum " is a must for any Quiet Man enthusiasts, or even those wishing to visit a typical Irish cottage of the 1920's.
Céide Fields Visitor Centre Ballycastle
The Céide Fields in North Mayo will certainly give you a unique experience. For this is not just another archaeological monument or visitor centre. Here you can indulge yourself in a vast prehistoric landscape, a natural wild ecology of blanket bog, dramatic cliffs and coastline, and a much acclaimed building, which has received Ireland's most prestigious architectural award.
The Céide Fields are the oldest known field systems in the world, over five and a half millennia old. It is a unique Neolithic landscape of world importance, which has changed our perception of our Stone Age ancestors. The remains of stone field walls, houses and megalithic tombs are preserved beneath a blanket of peat over several square miles. They tell a story of the everyday lives of a farming people, their organized society, their highly developed spiritual beliefs, and their struggle against a changing environment beyond their control.
Belcarra Eviction Cottage, Elmhall, Belcarra, County Mayo
Eviction Cottage
A 19th century eviction cottage at Elmhall, once the home of the Walshe family, who were evicted by the landlord's agents, has been restored and refurnished as a Heritage Centre, by Belcarra Community Co-Op.
The cottage was the scene of the last eviction in Belcarra, where a family of nine were evicted by the Landlord's agents, the infamous Gardiner, Pringle and Cuffe on Saturday October 2nd 1886.
Also restored is the 'tigin' which is a single room built at the time by the neighbours to house the evicted family.
Mayo Abbey, Ancient Capital of County Mayo, Ireland
Mayo Abbey is situated in the heart of County Mayo. It has a rural unspoilt beauty reminiscent of an older Ireland.
It lies hidden away off the main thoroughfare in the area known as the "Plains of Mayo" with its ancient stone walls and thorn hedged land divisions.
The peace and tranquility of this place belies its extraordinary past.
Here lies one of the most important Monastic sites in Western Europe, founded by St Colman in 668 AD
Mayo Abbey is unique in that it was founded for Saxon monks. To this day the area is known as "Mayo of the Saxons"
It flourished as a centre of learning over the succeeding centuries attracting students from Britain and Europe and particularly the Saxon nobility
It had connections with spiritual and political centres such as Iona, Kells and the Frankish Court of Charlemagne
In 1152 the Synod of Kells named Mayo Abbey as the seat of the Diocese of Mayo
Bishop Patrick O'Healy of Mayo was the first Irish bishop to die for the faith. He was executed in 1579
In the 16th century Mayo Abbey gave its name to County Mayo. Mhaigh Eo is an old Irish name meaning "Plain of the Yew Tree".
In Penal times Mass continued to be celebrated covertly in the ruins of the Abbey
St Colman's Famine church was opened in 1845 on the eve of the Great Famine
Traditional Music and Craic in Mayo