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Mayo, County Mayo
Mayo or Mayo Abbey (Irish: Maigh Eo, meaning 'plain of the yew trees')[1] is a village in County Mayo, Ireland. Although it bears the same name as the county, it is not the county seat, which is Castlebar. Mayo Abbey is a small historic village in south Mayo approximately 16 km to the south of Castlebar and 10 km north west of Claremorris. The village is in a civil parish of the same name.[1] HistoryThe village was an important centre in the Gaelic and Anglo-Saxon Christian world in the seventh and eighth centuries. St. Colmán, Bishop of Lindisfarne, founded a monastery here for a group of Saxon monks, called the School of Mayo. Saint Gerald became its first abbot in 670. Danish raiders attacked the monastery in 783 and again in 805.[2] Finally Turgesius completely destroyed it in 818 [2] The village was the centre of the diocese of Mayo from 1152. It was suppressed in the thirteenth century.[3] Bishops were appointed, however, as late as the sixteenth century.[3] One of its bishops, Patrick O'Hely, who died in 1589, is numbered among the Irish martyr saints.[3] The diocese was formally joined to Tuam by papal decree in 1631.[3] CultureThe BBC four-part documentary Amongst Women was filmed in Mayo Abbey using the Old Catholic Church, the graveyard and the post office/shop. SportMayo Gaels is the local Gaelic football team. They compete at all underage levels as well as senior and junior football. [4] Annalistic references
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