About County Mayo
County Mayo is one of the great counties of the Irish west, its long Atlantic coastline, sacred mountain, island communities and vast boglands creating a landscape of stark beauty. Mayo was among the counties worst affected by the Famine, the death rates here were among the highest in all of Ireland, and its people's experience of loss, emigration and survival has shaped everything since.
History
Mayo was the site of the French landing at Killala in 1798, when General Humbert led a small force that briefly routed the British before the rebellion collapsed. Croagh Patrick, rising above Clew Bay, has been a pilgrimage site since before Christianity. The county was the heartland of the Land League agitation of the 1870s and 80s, and Captain Boycott gave his name to a new word in the English language from his Mayo estate.
How Mayo families left Ireland
Mayo's emigration story is among the most severe in Ireland. The county's population fell by two-thirds between the Famine and the 20th century. Many left through the small ports of Westport and Killala, or walked to Cobh. Mayo families are among the most numerous in Boston, New York and Chicago, and the county's diaspora organisations remain remarkably active.
Places worth visiting in County Mayo
- Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain, climbed by pilgrims for 5,000 years, overlooking the island-studded Clew Bay
- Achill Island, Ireland's largest island, its dramatic cliffs and abandoned villages telling the story of the west
- The National Famine Memorial at Murrisk, the haunting skeletal ship sculpture below Croagh Patrick
- Westport House, the stately home of the Browne family, former landlords of much of Mayo, now open to visitors
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