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County

Mayo

Maigh Eo

Mayo’s local histories range from prehistoric farming beneath blanket bog to towns linked with roads, harbours and nineteenth-century trade.

Recorded locationMayo53.98730° N · 9.64794° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ieOpen in OpenStreetMap ↗

The name

A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.

Recorded forms

  • Maigh Eo · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Mayo · English · main form

Place & story

Fields beneath the bog

Mayo’s official Céide Fields account describes prehistoric field systems preserved beneath blanket bog on the north coast. This makes an important distinction between the visible surface and earlier land use. A bog landscape was not necessarily always bog, and archaeological evidence can reveal settlement that a modern view conceals. The site’s significance should be described through its evidence, without using an unsupported claim that every feature or farming system is the world’s oldest. [4]

The bay and the inland route

Lewis’s 1837 Westport entry describes agricultural exports and imported timber through Clew Bay, with the town’s Mall and estate landscape beside the river. Castlebar’s entry places a market and administrative centre on the road towards Westport. These are connected but different histories. Goods, military forces and travellers could move between them, while the harbour town and inland county centre generated distinct records and served different local catchments. [2] [3]

Locate the county connection

A Mayo family reference may concern a northern coastal townland, an inland parish or a route through one of those markets. Preserve the exact parish, street, island or estate name where available. A port of departure is not proof of birthplace, and the history of a landlord or a battle cannot establish every resident’s origins. Archaeological places, modern county addresses and nineteenth-century administrative descriptions belong to different scales and periods and should be matched carefully. [2] [3] [4]

Geographic information

Place type
County
County
Mayo
Coordinates
53.98730, -9.64794
Mapped area
5,596.52 km²
Logainm ID
100023 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

Explore this county

Up to 50 places per page, ordered by name.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Mayo. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Westport — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  3. Castlebar — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  4. Céide Fields · Mayo County Council
  5. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.