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Beaches Erris History Home

Storms reveal Mayo’s ancient forest

The mists of time have once again briefly lifted on beautiful Doohoma beach to reveal the preserved remnants of a prehistoric forest that once covered Mayo.

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History Home Mayo Walks Nature Trail

Timeless Blanemore Forest

Blanemore Forest Archaeological Walk near Moygownagh is another gem in Mayo’s treasure chest of extensive Neolithic sites – the best known of which is the Ceide Fields near Ballycastle.

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Books Erris History Home

Book tells Inishkea Islanders’ story

‘Amongst Our Own’ is a book about the Inishkea Islands by Tomás Bán O’Raghallaigh, whose parents were among the last inhabitants of the islands, located a few miles off the Mullet Peninsula in North West Mayo.

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History Home Nature Trail

Palmerstown Bridge – spanning the centuries

It’s hard to believe that Palmerstown Bridge, the main artery linking Mayo’s remote northwest corner to the rest of the county, dates back to the decade before the 1798 Rebellion.

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History Home Mayo Islands

Mayo’s deserted villages

The ferns, nettles, bushes, and briars now hide much of what was once a 19th-century village on the slopes of the Ox Mountains. The crumbling ruins of the small stone cottages and outhouses in the deserted village or clachán at Byhalla (Boyhollagh) are all that remain to remind us of the families who lived there. We can only […]

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Beaches Erris History Home

Diving into Scotchport’s past

Scotchport, a small and beautiful sheltered cove near Corclough on the Mullet, has an interesting history and today is a popular location for scuba diving in Mayo.

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Abbeys History Home Visitor Centres

A visit to Michael Davitt Museum

On arrival at the Michael Davitt Museum, you are greeted by the imposing bronze statue of the Land League founder in front of the restored 17th-century Straide Church which houses the magnificent museum in honour of the man who helped free rural communities from the yoke of landlordism.

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History Home

Remembrance Sunday in Ballina

The first ever Remembrance Day ceremony at Ballina’s War Memorial at Green Park on Killala Road took place on a wet and windy Sunday morning, November 8th, before a large and representative gathering of the local community.

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Abbeys History Home

Story behind Augustinian Abbey in Ballina

Lying largely in ruins, the ancient Augustinian Abbey in Ballina has never attracted the same attention as the other abbeys of the Moy, at Rosserk, Moyne and Rathfran – all of which are mostly intact. Nonetheless, Ballina’s Abbey has an interesting story to tell – stretching all the way back to a golden age in our Celtic past.

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Erris History Home

Glosh Tower and Deirbhle’s Twist on the Mullet

One of the most interesting aspects of my travels around Mayo is discovering the history behind some of the historic buildings that dot the landscape.