Attractions

Because it's a rural county with no major cities or many large towns, County Mayo feels a bit like a place without a center. Towns like Castlebar, Claremorris, Westport, and Ballinrobe in the southern part of the county, and Ballina in the northern reaches, make good places to stop, refill the tank, and have lunch, but they offer little to make you linger. The county's attractions lie in the countryside, and in smaller communities like Knock, Foxford, Ballycastle, Louisburgh, and Newport.

County Mayo's loveliest town, Westport (Cathair na Mairt), nestles on the shores of Clew Bay. Once a major port, it was designed by Richard Castle with a tree-lined mall, rows of Georgian buildings, and an octagonal central mall where a vibrant market adds zest to the town on Thursdays.

Southeast of Westport, Croagh Patrick, a 750m (2,460-ft.) mountain, dominates the views of western Mayo for miles. St. Patrick is said to have spent the 40 days of Lent praying here in the year 441. To commemorate that, on the last Sunday of July, thousands of Irish people make a pilgrimage to the site, which has become known as St. Patrick's Holy Mountain.

Heading west, the rugged, bog-filled, sparsely populated coast makes for scenic drives to secluded outposts. Leading the list is Achill Island (An Caol), a heather-filled bog land with sandy beaches and spectacular views of waves crashing against rocky cliffs. The drive from the mainland and then across the island to the little town of Keel requires patience and skill, but rewards you with a camera filled with photos. Clare Island, once the home of Mayo's legendary "Pirate Queen," Grace O'Malley, is another scenic isle, south of Achill in Clew Bay.

Like the drive to Achill Island, the road from Ballina along the edge of the northern coast to Downpatrick Head is breathtaking. It passes through Killala (Cill Alaidh or Cill Ála), a small, secluded harbor village that came close to changing the course of Ireland's history. In 1798, the French General Amable Humbert landed here with 1,100 troops in an attempt to help the Irish defeat the British forces. After several surprisingly successful fights with troops under British command, particularly a thorough routing at Castlebar, Humbert had attracted thousands of Irish volunteers who fought by his side. At that point, the British sent Gen. Cornwallis (the same general who surrendered to Washington at Yorktown in 1781) to take him on in Longford, with thousands of well-armed troops. The battle lasted only half an hour before Humbert surrendered. The French soldiers were treated honorably, but the Irish volunteers who had fought with Humbert, and anybody suspected of sympathizing with him, were slaughtered.

Outside Killala on the road R314 to Ballina (Béal an Átha) are several ruined friaries worth a stop for those who love the blurred beauty of ancient abbeys. Moyne Abbey was established in the mid-1400s and destroyed by Richard Bingham, the English governor of Connaught, in the 16th century. It's a peaceful place, and you can see why the monks chose it. The same is true, even more so, of Rosserk Abbey about 3km (2 miles) away. Sitting at the edge of the River Rosserk, the abbey is in much better shape than the Moyne: Its chapel windows are well-preserved. You can climb a winding stone stair to look out across the bay. The piscina of the church (once used for washing altar vessels) is still here, carved with angels, and on its lower-left-hand column is a delightful detail: a tiny, elegant carving of a round tower that recalls its 23m-tall (75-ft.) counterpart in nearby Killala. The Rosserk Abbey was built at the same time as the Moyne and also destroyed by Bingham's troops.