churches historical mayo

Knock Shrine attracts one and a half million pilgrims every year. Private pilgrimages take place all year with a special programme of ceremonies and devotions between April and October. Increasing numbers of pilgrims prompted the then Parish Priest, Monsignor James Horan to build the largest church in Ireland at Knock. In 1976 the Basilica of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland was opened here, with accommodation for over 12,000 people. The gable of the old church where the apparition took place...

Croagh Patrick is located about 8km from Westport on the Louisburgh Road. Croagh Patrick is a sacred and beautiful hill. From most points of view, it rises from the sea on the southern shore of Clew Bay as a perfect cone to the height of 764 metres (2,510 feet). There are larger and loftier masses of mountain in Ireland, but none so striking from its isolation....

A small 12th century church which consisted of a nave and chancel. Only the foundations of the nave remain, but the chancel is better preserved and contains a rounded east window which splays inwards. It is picturesquely situated beside lake Ballymore....

The founder of the first monastery here was St. Senach who was created Bishop of Aghagower by St. Patrick. The Round Tower, which is preserved up to the fourth floor, has a round-headed doorway. The present ground-floor entrance is modern, and the roof is said to have been struck by lighting. The nearby church was built in the 15th century, but with fragments of an earlier church....

Nothing is known about the early history of the island, but in 1220 the Cistercians from Knockmoy, Co. Galway (q.v.) established a cell here. The 'Abbey' church consists of a nave and chancel as well as a sacristy. There were other buildings to the north of the church, but these have vanished. The church does not appear to date from the period of foundation, but from about 1500. The most unusual feature of the church are the paintings in the chancel, which are some of the very few medieval...

An Abbey or Priory of the Carmelites was founded here in 1298 probably by Adam de Staunton of Castlecarra. It is the lower down of two churches in the field and has some 13th century niches, though much of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century when the present windows were inserted and the domestic buildings added. It became Augustinian in 1413 and was burned in 1430. further up the field, in the graveyard, is a 14th century parish church with the lower part of the walls sloping outwards...

A well-preserved round Tower which is lower and fatter than most examples. It had a round-headed doorway (now blocked up), and flat - and gable-headed windows. The church beside it, although built in the 18th century, incorporates a 16th century mullioned window and a small plaque with the Crucifixion dated 1625. The first church here was founded by St. Patrick and, because of this, the Archbishops of Armagh long claimed jurisdiction over it. But in 1351 the Pope authorised the Archbishop of...

On one side of the river is a 13th century church incorporating a square belfry at the western end. The remains of three lancet windows can be seen in the east wall. On the other side of the river is a castle which is not in the best of condition but has two corner fireplaces and tall profiled chimney stacks. The castle was built in the 16th century by the Burkes; in 1574 it was in the possession of MacWilliam Eighter' (Sir John fitz Oliver Burke)....