          |
  
|
County Mayo has beautiful countryside and its traditional Irish towns and villages look much as they did in the last century, still relatively untouched by tourism, except in the lively towns of Westport and Ballina. Irish is also still spoken in many parts of Mayo and the Mayo accent is one of the most distinctive in Ireland. The County has some impressive historical sites including the fascinating 5,000 year old farming settlement, Ceide Fields, which lay preserved in the bog until recently, and fine abbeys including Cong and Bullintubber dating back to the 12th century. Visitor centres also tell about Mayo's colourful leaders like Grace O'Malley the pirate Queen of Connaught who plundered English ships off the West Coast. Mayo still has two important pilgrimage destinations, the holy village of Knock and the 2513 feet high holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, which has wonderful views from the top whether you have climbed for penitential reasons or not. Mayo's salmon rivers, trout lakes and sea fishing also attract pilgrims of a different nature. The rugged coastline with its many small bays and cliffy headlands also shelter many deserted sandy beaches. There are also boat links to many of the small islands off the coast and a landbridge to Ireland's largest island, Achill.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Design and content by INIS (Irish News Internet Services 1998-99) Contact INIS by emailing inis@irishnews.com or Tel: 01232 322226 |
|
|
