placenamesMayo
Maigh Eo
The parish around Mayo Abbey combined farming and quarrying with institutions and stories recorded before the Famine.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Maigh Eo · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Mayo · English · main form
Place & story
Farming and the Brize fair
Mayo parish lay chiefly in Clanmorris but extended into Kilmaine, according to Lewis in 1837. He described sheep pasture, cultivated land and bog reclamation, as well as numerous limestone quarries. Brize held a livestock fair on 11 August, trading horses, cattle and sheep. Browne Hall, associated with Lord Oranmore, and A. Coghlan’s residence at Brize were among the principal houses he identified across this wider parish landscape. [2]
Buildings before the Famine church
The parish’s Church of Ireland church dated from about 1811, with its construction funded by the Board of First Fruits. The same body contributed a loan and grant towards the glebe-house built in 1826. Lewis located the Catholic chapel near the monastery ruins, writing before the old Saint Colman’s church opened in 1845. He also counted four private schools teaching about 190 children, providing a snapshot of local institutions before the Famine. [2] [3]
Alfred in the local tradition
Lewis recorded a tradition that Alfred the Great had been educated at Mayo and that one of his sons was buried there. His account explicitly presented these as traditional claims. It attests the circulation of a royal story around the abbey by 1837; it does not establish either the king’s attendance or the burial. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Mayo
- Barony
- Kilmaine
- Barony
- Clanmorris
- Coordinates
- 53.76664, -9.10790
- Mapped area
- 47.76 km²
- Logainm ID
- 1820 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Mayo. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Mayo parish, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Saint Colman’s Catholic Church, registration 31309028 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.