Must-see attractions in Counties Mayo & Sligo

  • Ballintubber Abbey

    County Mayo

    Imposing Ballintubber Abbey is the only church in Ireland founded by an Irish king that remains in use. It's reputed to have been established in 1216 next…

  • Dun Briste

    County Mayo

    An astonishing sea stack that's lashed by foaming sea, Dun Briste is Mayo's top natural sight. Legend attests that St Patrick drove all the vipers from…

  • Céide Fields

    County Mayo

    An exposed hillside 8km northwest of Ballycastle is home to one of the world's most extensive Stone Age monuments. So far stone-walled fields, houses and…

  • Clare Island Abbey

    County Mayo

    The chancel roof of 13th-century Clare Island Abbey is dotted with faded fragments of murals, dating from around 1500. Look out too for the tomb reputed…

  • National Museum of Country Life

    County Mayo

    The extensive and engrossing displays of this riverside museum delve into Ireland's fascinating rural traditions and skills. It's set in a modern,…

  • St Mary's Well

    County Mayo

    St Mary's is one of Ireland's most transfixing holy wells. An apparition of the Virgin Mary has drawn pilgrims here for centuries, and today a tumbledown…

  • Slievemore Deserted Village

    County Mayo

    The bleak remains of more than 80 houses in this deserted village at the foot of Mt Slievemore are slowly being reduced to rock piles, a poignant reminder…

  • Keem Bay Beach

    County Mayo

    Tucked away at the far west of the island, Keem Bay is Achill's most remote Blue Flag beach. The crescent of golden sands sits at the foot of steep cliffs…

  • Moore Hall

    County Mayo

    With towering walls engulfed in ivy and empty windows, Moore Hall is an astonishing and atmospheric ruin. Set beside Lough Carra, it was built in the…

  • Trawmore Beach

    County Mayo

    Running 3km southeast from Keel, beautiful, Blue Flag, golden-sand Trawmore is among Achill's most photographed beaches. Be aware that there are dangerous…

  • Achill Sea Salt

    County Mayo

    At the O’Malley's factory, tours reveal just how the family magics Achill's mineral-rich waters into flavoursome flakes of crunchy salt. After seeing…

  • Lackan Strand

    County Mayo

    Lackan Bay's beach is a stunning and vast expanse of golden sand – it's particularly beautiful as the sun goes down, making it one of Ireland's most…

  • Knock Marian Shrine

    County Mayo

    A place of pilgrimage for decades, the Knock shrine includes five churches and a museum set amid landscaped grounds. The complex has evolved thanks to…

  • Cong Abbey

    County Mayo

    The evocatively weathered shell of Cong's 12th-century Augustinian abbey is scored by a cross-hatch of lines from centuries of exposure to the elements…

  • Ashford Castle Estate

    County Mayo

    Just beyond Cong Abbey, the village abruptly ends and the woodlands surrounding Ashford Castle begin. First built in 1228 as the seat of the de Burgo…

  • Belleek Castle

    County Mayo

    Take a fascinating tour of this restored castle, built between 1825 and 1831 on the site of a medieval abbey. The castle was bought in the 1960s by fossil…

  • Carrigahowley Castle

    County Mayo

    Carrigahowley Castle (also called Rockfleet Castle), an intact 15th-century tower off the N59, is associated with 'pirate queen' Grace O'Malley. She…

  • Westport House

    County Mayo

    Built in 1730 on the ruins of Grace O'Malley's 16th-century castle, this charming Georgian mansion 2km west of the centre retains much of its original…

  • Don Allum Monument

    County Mayo

    In the village of Dooagh's main car park sits a slender, inscribed stone noting the epic achievement of Don Allum, the first person to row across the…

  • Foxford Woollen Mill

    County Mayo

    Founded in 1892, the Foxford mill was set up to ease post-Famine suffering and provide much-needed work. It remained open until 1987, during which time…

  • Rosserk Abbey

    County Mayo

    Dipping its toes into the River Rosserk, this sublime Franciscan abbey dates from the mid-15th century. An eye-catching double piscina (perforated stone…

  • St Patrick's Church

    County Mayo

    Bursting at the seams with worshippers on Sundays, this small church has a magnificent stained-glass window depicting a girl being lowered in a lifeboat…

  • Captain Webb's Hole

    County Mayo

    Just west of the village is the water-filled Captain Webb's Hole. Two centuries ago, a local villain, nicknamed Captain Webb for the deformity of his…

  • Pigeonhole Cave

    County Mayo

    This cave, in a pine forest about 1.5km west of Cong, can be reached via a signposted walking loop from the abbey. Steep, slippery stone steps lead down…

  • Titanic Memorial Park

    County Mayo

    With the bow of the RMS Titanic cast in bronze and statues of several of the 14 local passengers who were on the ship when it went down, this memorial…

  • Deirbhile's Twist

    County Mayo

    'Deirbhile's Twist' is one of several sights in the immediate area that relate to St Deirbhile. At this one, a modern-day stone circle evokes ancient…

  • Burrishoole Abbey

    County Mayo

    From a distance, the eerie shell of this wind-battered 1470-built Dominican abbey near the water is quite a sight. Leaving Newport in a northwest…

  • Jackie Clarke Collection

    County Mayo

    Starting when he was 12 in 1939, the late Jackie Clarke was a businessman who amassed an extraordinary collection of 100,000 items covering 400 years of…

  • Mulranny

    County Mayo

    Rising from a narrow isthmus, the hillside village of Mulranny overlooks a wide Blue Flag beach on the road from Newport to Achill Sound and on the cusp…

  • Grace O'Malley's Castle

    County Mayo

    The 40ft-high, 15th-century tower house rising beside the shore at Kildownet is associated with the pirate queen Grace O'Malley. Entering through a steel…

  • Knock Museum

    County Mayo

    This small museum follows the story of the first witnesses to the vision of Mary in the parish church in 1879, through to the miraculous cures attributed…

  • Grace Kelly's Cottage

    County Mayo

    This tumble down, roofless ruin near Drumgoney Lough (Leg O' Mutton Lake) is the ancestral home of the late actress (and Princess of Monaco) Grace Kelly…

  • National Famine Memorial

    County Mayo

    Opposite the car park on the far side of the road is the National Famine Memorial, a spine-chilling sculpture of a three-masted ghost ship wreathed in…

  • Turlough Round Tower

    County Mayo

    Stretching up 23m and featuring a single lofty window, the magnificent Turlough Round Tower, a short distance northeast of the National Museum of Country…

  • St Deirbhile's Well

    County Mayo

    The ruins here mark the site of St Deirbhile miraculously regaining her sight after plucking out her eyes to make herself less attractive to an unwanted…

  • Quiet Man Museum

    County Mayo

    Modelled on Sean Thornton's White O' Morn' Cottage from The Quiet Man film, the museum offers a location tour – good for film fanatics and those with a…

  • Round Tower

    County Mayo

    Right at the centre of things and at the heart of Killala, the town's gorgeous 12th-century limestone round tower is perfectly preserved, although it was…

  • Clock Tower

    County Mayo

    This 1947, art deco–style landmark stands in the centre of Westport, and is a popular meeting point for locals. It's notoriously inaccurate, and sometimes…

  • St Deirbhile's Church

    County Mayo

    If you can squeeze your way through the west window of this ancient 12th-century church ruin three times, you will never die from drowning (legend attests…

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