Country Ireland Time zone WET (UTC+0) Elevation 72 m | County County Mayo Irish Grid Reference M263783 Province Connacht | |
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Weather 9°C, Wind SW at 26 km/h, 89% Humidity | ||
Mayo or Mayo Abbey (Irish: Maigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") 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.
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History
The 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, Saint Gerald becoming the first abbot in 670. Danish raiders attacked the monastery in 783 and again in 805. Finally Turgesius completely destroyed it in 818
The village was the centre of the diocese of Mayo from 1152. It was suppressed in the thirteenth century. Bishops were appointed, however, as late as the sixteenth century. One of its bishops, Patrick O'Hely, who died in 1589, is numbered among the Irish martyr saints. The diocese was formally joined to Tuam by papal decree in 1631.
Culture
The BBC four-part documentary Amongst Women was filmed in Mayo Abbey using the Old Catholic Church, the graveyard and the post office/shop.
Sport
Mayo Gaels is the local Gaelic football team. They compete at all underage levels as well as senior and junior football.