COUNTY MAYO GUIDE

County Mayo is one of the Republic of Ireland's 26 counties It is situated in the province of Connacht.

The county was named after the village of Mayo, which these days is better known as Mayo Abbey.

The population of the county is a hundred and thirty thousand. County Mayo's main towns are Ballina and Castlebar, situated in the North East of the county.

There are many reminders of the Great Famine of 1845, to be seen on the Mayo landscape. For example famine graves, workhouse sites, sites of soup-kitchens, and deserted villages and homes.

A lot of roads and lanes were built as famine relief measures. There were nine workhouses in county Mayo: Ballina, Castlebar, Ballinrobe, Belmullet,Swinford, Claremorris, Newport, and Westport and Killala.

County Mayo has over three thousand historic and archeologic sites, including ancient abbeys, castles, standing stones, Great Houses, portal tombs and many more.

Mayo has also more than twelve Blue Flag beaches, as well as other beautiful beaches. This is due to tothe county's long and winding coastline.

The coastline stretches from Golden Strand in the South West, up to Killala Bay in the north. Croagh Patrick, is the mountain where Saint Patrick is said to have banished the snakes.

The county of Mayo has many attractions, including good fishing waters, impressive mounting scenery, megalithic tombs, excellent hiking trails and fantastic golf courses, including the famous course in Westport.

Westport is a very attractive town, with traditional pubs playing lots of Irish music. It is situated at the mouth of Clew Bay.

Achill Island is located here and is the largest island off the coast of Ireland. The island has beautiful mountains, beaches and moors.

Ballina, is the county town of Mayo, and is situated on the river Moy. It is often reffered to as anglers paradise.

The bridges in the town have very good salmon fishing, many thousand are caught every year.

The market town of Ballina has an attractive street festival every July. It also houses a fifteenth century Abbet (Moyne Abbey), and Rosserk Friary.

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