County Mayo
Imposing Ballintubber Abbey is the only church in Ireland founded by an Irish king that remains in use. It's reputed to have been established in 1216 next…
Must-see attractions in Counties Mayo & Sligo
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County Mayo
An astonishing sea stack that's lashed by foaming sea, Dun Briste is Mayo's top natural sight. Legend attests that St Patrick drove all the vipers from…
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County Mayo
An exposed hillside 8km northwest of Ballycastle is home to one of the world's most extensive Stone Age monuments. So far stone-walled fields, houses and…
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County Mayo
The chancel roof of 13th-century Clare Island Abbey is dotted with faded fragments of murals, dating from around 1500. Look out too for the tomb reputed…
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National Museum of Country Life
County Mayo
The extensive and engrossing displays of this riverside museum delve into Ireland's fascinating rural traditions and skills. It's set in a modern,…
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County Mayo
St Mary's is one of Ireland's most transfixing holy wells. An apparition of the Virgin Mary has drawn pilgrims here for centuries, and today a tumbledown…
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County Mayo
The bleak remains of more than 80 houses in this deserted village at the foot of Mt Slievemore are slowly being reduced to rock piles, a poignant reminder…
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County Mayo
Tucked away at the far west of the island, Keem Bay is Achill's most remote Blue Flag beach. The crescent of golden sands sits at the foot of steep cliffs…
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County Mayo
With towering walls engulfed in ivy and empty windows, Moore Hall is an astonishing and atmospheric ruin. Set beside Lough Carra, it was built in the…
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County Mayo
Running 3km southeast from Keel, beautiful, Blue Flag, golden-sand Trawmore is among Achill's most photographed beaches. Be aware that there are dangerous…
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County Mayo
At the O’Malley's factory, tours reveal just how the family magics Achill's mineral-rich waters into flavoursome flakes of crunchy salt. After seeing…
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County Mayo
Lackan Bay's beach is a stunning and vast expanse of golden sand – it's particularly beautiful as the sun goes down, making it one of Ireland's most…
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County Mayo
A place of pilgrimage for decades, the Knock shrine includes five churches and a museum set amid landscaped grounds. The complex has evolved thanks to…
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County Mayo
The evocatively weathered shell of Cong's 12th-century Augustinian abbey is scored by a cross-hatch of lines from centuries of exposure to the elements…
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County Mayo
Just beyond Cong Abbey, the village abruptly ends and the woodlands surrounding Ashford Castle begin. First built in 1228 as the seat of the de Burgo…
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County Mayo
Take a fascinating tour of this restored castle, built between 1825 and 1831 on the site of a medieval abbey. The castle was bought in the 1960s by fossil…
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County Mayo
Carrigahowley Castle (also called Rockfleet Castle), an intact 15th-century tower off the N59, is associated with 'pirate queen' Grace O'Malley. She…
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County Mayo
Built in 1730 on the ruins of Grace O'Malley's 16th-century castle, this charming Georgian mansion 2km west of the centre retains much of its original…
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County Mayo
In the village of Dooagh's main car park sits a slender, inscribed stone noting the epic achievement of Don Allum, the first person to row across the…
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County Mayo
Founded in 1892, the Foxford mill was set up to ease post-Famine suffering and provide much-needed work. It remained open until 1987, during which time…
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County Mayo
Dipping its toes into the River Rosserk, this sublime Franciscan abbey dates from the mid-15th century. An eye-catching double piscina (perforated stone…
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County Mayo
Bursting at the seams with worshippers on Sundays, this small church has a magnificent stained-glass window depicting a girl being lowered in a lifeboat…
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County Mayo
Just west of the village is the water-filled Captain Webb's Hole. Two centuries ago, a local villain, nicknamed Captain Webb for the deformity of his…
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County Mayo
This cave, in a pine forest about 1.5km west of Cong, can be reached via a signposted walking loop from the abbey. Steep, slippery stone steps lead down…
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County Mayo
With the bow of the RMS Titanic cast in bronze and statues of several of the 14 local passengers who were on the ship when it went down, this memorial…
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County Mayo
'Deirbhile's Twist' is one of several sights in the immediate area that relate to St Deirbhile. At this one, a modern-day stone circle evokes ancient…
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Granuaile Heritage Centre & Famine Exhibition
County Mayo
Acquire an illuminating glimpse into the life and times of Grace O’Malley (Gráinne Ní Mháille or Granuaile; 1530–1603), the infamous pirate queen of…
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County Mayo
From a distance, the eerie shell of this wind-battered 1470-built Dominican abbey near the water is quite a sight. Leaving Newport in a northwest…
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County Mayo
Starting when he was 12 in 1939, the late Jackie Clarke was a businessman who amassed an extraordinary collection of 100,000 items covering 400 years of…
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County Mayo
Rising from a narrow isthmus, the hillside village of Mulranny overlooks a wide Blue Flag beach on the road from Newport to Achill Sound and on the cusp…
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County Mayo
The 40ft-high, 15th-century tower house rising beside the shore at Kildownet is associated with the pirate queen Grace O'Malley. Entering through a steel…
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County Mayo
This small museum follows the story of the first witnesses to the vision of Mary in the parish church in 1879, through to the miraculous cures attributed…
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County Mayo
This tumble down, roofless ruin near Drumgoney Lough (Leg O' Mutton Lake) is the ancestral home of the late actress (and Princess of Monaco) Grace Kelly…
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County Mayo
Opposite the car park on the far side of the road is the National Famine Memorial, a spine-chilling sculpture of a three-masted ghost ship wreathed in…
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County Mayo
Stretching up 23m and featuring a single lofty window, the magnificent Turlough Round Tower, a short distance northeast of the National Museum of Country…
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County Mayo
The ruins here mark the site of St Deirbhile miraculously regaining her sight after plucking out her eyes to make herself less attractive to an unwanted…
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County Mayo
Modelled on Sean Thornton's White O' Morn' Cottage from The Quiet Man film, the museum offers a location tour – good for film fanatics and those with a…
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County Mayo
Right at the centre of things and at the heart of Killala, the town's gorgeous 12th-century limestone round tower is perfectly preserved, although it was…
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County Mayo
This 1947, art deco–style landmark stands in the centre of Westport, and is a popular meeting point for locals. It's notoriously inaccurate, and sometimes…
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County Mayo
If you can squeeze your way through the west window of this ancient 12th-century church ruin three times, you will never die from drowning (legend attests…
