County Dossier
Mayo
A western county of bays, mountains and pilgrim roads.
Mayo occupies a large portion of Ireland's western seaboard, combining mountain ranges, Atlantic inlets, offshore islands and broad inland plains.
At a glance
Mayo at a glance
A western county of bays, mountains and pilgrim roads.
- Connacht and pilgrimage country
- County by the 16th century
- Clew Bay, Achill and Croagh Patrick
- Area: 2,157 sq miles / 5,587 sq km
- Population: 130,638
- County Top: Mweelrea (2,671ft / 814m)
County Geography
Mayo meets Sligo to the north-east, Roscommon to the east, and Galway to the south, while the Atlantic forms the county’s western and northern sea edge. The county is shaped by its bays and inlets, its mountain and bog belts, and the inland plains that open eastward toward the Shannon side of Connacht.
Mayo is easy to recognise through its Atlantic inlets, mountain belt, and inland plains.
Map Reference
View Mayo on the map
Mayo is the county. The map shows its boundary, places, and neighbouring counties.
The county.
The county boundary.
Nearby counties and places.
Places and routes
Castlebar, Westport, Ballina, Claremorris, and Ballinrobe show the county from its central and western heart to its northern and southern inland sides.
Connections
The county’s routes have long crossed through Castlebar and Claremorris, linked Westport and the bays with the interior, and run north toward Ballina and south toward Ballinrobe. Movement follows the same bay, mountain, and plain pattern.
Names
- Mayo
- County Mayo
- County of Mayo
Maigh Eo is the Irish form of Mayo. County Mayo is the formal historical style, the county name means the plain of the yew, and the older background lies in the wider Connacht setting and the pilgrimage and coastal traditions of the west.
Mayo was a county by the sixteenth century, and its combination of bay, island, mountain, and plain still gives the historic county a distinct western shape.