Mayo Abbey – Mainistreach Mhaigh Eo

The Abbey

The County of Mayo takes its name from this tiny village, which can trace its origins back to more than 300 years before the foundation of Viking Dublin.  It was called after the monastery of Mayo Abbey, founded in 668 AD by St. Coleman of Lindisfarne.  ‘Mayo’ translates as ‘Maigh Eo’ (The Plain of the Yew trees), hinting at a rather different landscape in former times.

The village, known as ‘Mayo of the Saxons’, held a powerful ecclesiastical and political position.  It boasts a rich cultural and monastic heritage illustrated by ruins, relics and part of the old monastic valum (enclosing wall).  Amongst these treasurers is a superb and finely decorated early Christian slab and the perfectly preserved Famine Church which was completed in 1845 at the height of the great potato famine.

In recent times, the successful television drama, ‘Amongst Women’, was filmed here.

Visitors will enjoy the experience of ‘The Spirit of Mayo Abbey’, an ongoing exhibition detailing the proud history of Mayo Abbey.

The Village

Natural Features
Views of Croagh Patrick
Bogs
Diverse Flora & Fauna

Heritage Sites
St. Colman’s History
Famine Church
Monastic Settlement
Brize Castle
Mass Paths
Megalithic Tomb
Protestant Church
Lime Kilns
Killeen
Grottos