Local Attractions Mayo
Ceide Fields
An award winning visitor centre, the Ceide Fields marks the remains of a Neolithic settlement – walls, houses and tombs that extended over many miles were preserved under blanket bogland peat. It is located on the dramatic coastline of north Mayo with views of the cliffs and sea stack at Down Patrick Head.
Click here to read more about the Ceide Fields.
Foxford Woollen Mills
Located on the River Moy in the heart of Foxford it is one of Ireland’s oldest working mills. It was founded in 1892 by a nun to generate employment – it still produces its acclaimed blankets, travel rugs and tweeds which are on sale in the Visitor shop. Tours are available.
Click here to read more about the Foxford Woollen Mills.
North Mayo Family Heritage Centre
Trace your Mayo ancestry with the assistance of a professional genealogist – located at Enniscoe House on the shores of Lough Conn near the farming town of Crossmolina.
Click here to read more about the North Mayo Family Heritage Centre.
National Museum of Country Life
This is a must to see when in North Mayo, located just off the N5 in Turlough en route to Castlebar. Set in the period home in Turlough Park, the museum combines both classical and modern architecture. The museum’s exhibits display the story of Irish life between 1850 – 1950. There are interactive elements for children, as well as crafty making displays and story telling. Admission is free.
Ballycroy National Park
Ballycroy National Park was established in November 1998, it is Ireland’s sixth National Park and is located on the Western seaboard in northwest Mayo.It comprises of 11,000 hectares of Atlantic blanket bog and mountainous terrain,covering a vast uninhabited and unspoilt wilderness dominated by the Nephin Beg mountain range. Between Nephin beg and Slieve Carr, at 721metres above sea level, the highest mountain in the range, lie the Scardaun Loughs. To the west of the mountains is the Owenduff bog. This is one of the last intact active blanket bog systems in Ireland and Western Europe and is an important scientific and scenic feature of the National Park. The Park also protects a variety of other important habitats and species. These include alpine heath, upland grassland, heath and lakes and river catchments. Greenland
White-fronted geese, Golden plover, Red Grouse and Otters are just some of the important fauna found within the Park. The National Park is itself part of the Owenduff/Nephin Complex Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). These European designations are part of the Natura 2000 Network, which protect rare and important habitats and species under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
Jackie Clarke Museum
The Museum houses a collection of unique Irish artifacts relating to revolutionary Irish history which is one of the most important in the world. The Collection was amassed by Jackie Clarke during his lifetime (1928-2000) and it spans 400 years of Irish history. It contains over 100,000 items including many unique documents that scholars had believed to have been lost – sole surviving copies of publications, rare handbills and proclamations, unpublished manuscripts and political writings.
The collection is located in a historic building that was once the former Provincial Bank. It was designed in the mid 1800’s by Thomas Manly Deane; he also designed other significant Government building including the National Gallery and National Library.
The Museum is located on Pearse St, Ballina and includes an urban walled garden.
Titanic Memorial Park
Located in Lahadane to commemorate the fourteen Addergoole natives that boarded the Titanic in Cobh in 1912 bound for America. There were three only survivors in the group when the Titanic struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on Thursday, 11 April.
It is a nice tranquility park under the watchful eye of the impressive Nephin Mountain with an iconic bronze scale replica of the Titanic’s bow. The stain glass window’s in the nearby Parish Church are dedicated to the Titanic victims and depict scene’s of emigration and lifeboat 16 being lowered that contained an Addergoole survivor. See www.mayo-titanic.com