Crossword Puzzle: Co. Mayo Towns and Villages
by Linda Fulton Burke
ACROSS
1 ______ parish lies between loughs Carra and Mask
3 the geographical centre of County Mayo
5 Dubbed “The Lake Angling Capital of the West”
9 Located on the N59, 40km west of Ballina, village on the banks of the
Owenmore River
10 Bohola was the birthplace of the great athlete, Martin Sheridan (1881-
1918) who won 9 Olympic medals
11 Situated on the River Deel, near the northern shores of Lough Conn,
13 located on the N59 road midway between Bangor and Mulranny.
15 located adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean between Ballycastle and
Belmullet
17 Located on the intersection of the N60 and N83, the first town you
come to in County Mayo as you travel west.
18 Kilgeever as it used to be known
20 Home of Ashford Castle
22 “the gem of the Western Isles” is the largest island in Clew bay
24 Gaelic speaking rural community on the shores of Lough Mask, used to
be part of Co. Galway
25 Situated as it is at the junction of the N17 and the N60
30 Admiral William Brown, creator and first admiral of the Argentine Navy,
was born in Foxford in 1777
31 The annual Grainne Uaile Festival
32 John Millington Synge is said to have based his play “The Playboy of
the Western World” around the village area
34 Located in East Mayo, takes its name meaning St Moibhi’s Church
35 the headquarters of the leading organization in women’s development
in North Mayo – Women of the North West
36 Six miles south of Ballina, the birthplace of Fr Patrick Peyton, the world
famous founder of the Family Rosary Crusade.
40 one of Europe’s major Catholic Marian shrines, is visited by one and a
half million pilgrims annually.
42 beautiful villages of Dooagh and Dooega
49 home of the famous River Moy, is Mayo’s largest town
53 between the shores of Clew Bay and the majestic mountain of Croagh
Patrick, known locally as ‘The Reek’.
54 designed in the 18th Century by James Wyatt.
55 A piece of modern sculpture, approx 30ft high, in the shape of an
accordion, dominates the skyline along the main N17 road towards
Galway.
56 the site of the French landing at Kilcummin Strand on Aug. 22,1798.
57 the capital of the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) region of Erris
58 The ‘________ Ireland Song’ now a famous ballad, draws its inspiration
from a series of ten surviving letters written on behalf of Byran and
Elizabeth Hunt by the local school master to their emigrant son, John,
in America
DOWN
2 mid-way along the Tochar Phadraig ancient pilgrimage route from
Ballintubber Abbey to Croagh Patrick
4 ‘Ireland’s Titanic Village’ because of the enormous loss of lives, of any
parish in Ireland, on the ill-fated RMS Titanic’s
6 at the foot of the Partry Mountains, the abbey church is the only church
in Ireland, still operating, that was founded by an Irish King.
7 derives its name from the lake below the village, which used to dry up
for part of the year
8 meaning ‘Quarter of the hounds’) is a small picturesque village in south
west Mayo
12 Nestling in the shadows of the Ox Mountains on the Mayo / Sligo
border
14 (The Green Village) – is aptly named, located as it is in a fertile strip of
land straddling the borders of Mayo Abbey and Carnacon
16 the birthplace of Raifteirí – the blind poet.
19 small village on the R331 mid-way between Claremorris and Ballinrobe
in South Mayo
21 situated on the isthmus between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay
23 situated approximately fifteen miles south-west of Bangor Erris,
overlooking Achill Island to the south.
25 the county town and also the administrative seat for the county
26 ifamed as the home of the Land League, an organisation founded in
1879
27 Michael Davitt , cofounder of the Land League, was born on March 25th
1846 during the Great Famine
28 In the 1950s, ________ Dance Hall made national and UK news, with
the story of the infamous appearance of a cloven-hoofed ‘devil’, alleged
to have danced with a local girl one night in the ballroom
29 . Located on the shores of Loughs Conn & Cullen
33 Situated on the N5 between Castlebar and Swinford
37 hosts one of the County’s largest summer festivals: Siamsa Sraide
________, (Fun in the Streets of ________).
38 Killala (in Irish: Cill Ala) is six and a half miles north-west of Ballina
39 The ancient Pilgrim Route ‘Tochar Phadraig’ passes through the village
of _______
41 located on the intersection of two National Primary routes, the N17 and
the N5, along the eastern border of County Mayo,
43 meaning ‘Quarter of the Fort’. There are over 20 forts in the area.
44 The Céide Fields Interpretative Centre is built at the site of the most
extensive Stone Age Monument in the world.
45 Heritage Centre, is a beautifully restored cottage, formerly the scene of
a 19th century eviction.
46 Snuggled close to the isthmus of Cong iis The ______
47 means Mouth of the Ford of the Bird’, perhaps referring to the shape of
the river itself.
48 IWhere Enda Kenny was born (former Taoiseach)
50 The scenic village is situated close to Ireland’s Holy Mountain of
Croagh Patrick was once controlled by Mayo’s Pirate Queen,
51 Located on the N60 between Balla and Castlebar which was the centre
of Druid worship in the region.
52 nestles on the Mayo side of the Black River, along the border between
counties Mayo and Galway
