Things to do in Co. Mayo
32 places
1.Downpatrick Head
A 45m sea stack broken off in a 1393 storm
A windswept Mayo headland where a 45-metre sea stack, a thundering blowhole and a wartime Éire sign share one short cliff-top loop. Entry is free and the gate never closes.
- Highlights
- Dún Briste, a 45m sea stack with ruins still on top
- Poll na Seantainne blowhole and its fenced viewing platform
- ÉIRE 64 wartime marker and lookout hut
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
2.Keem Beach, Achill
A Blue Flag horseshoe strand below Croaghaun's cliffs
A horseshoe of white sand and turquoise water squeezed between the cliffs of Achill's western tip, Keem Bay is the beach that keeps topping Ireland's best-of lists. It is sheltered, Blue Flag clean and reached only by a spectacular cliff-top road.
- Highlights
- Horseshoe bay of white sand and turquoise water
- Blue Flag beach with summer lifeguards
- Sheltered, calm water for swimming and paddleboarding
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
3.Wild Atlantic Way Signature Discovery Point @Keem Bay
A turquoise horseshoe beach beneath 688m cliffs
Keem Bay is a horseshoe of golden sand and clear turquoise water at the far western tip of Achill, walled in by some of Europe's highest sea cliffs. Sheltered, Blue Flag and reached by a hair-raising cliff-top road, it is the Wild Atlantic Way at its most cinematic.
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
4.Béal an Mhuirthead Tidal Pool
A free sea pool filled by the Atlantic tide
A rare Irish tidal pool on the edge of Blacksod Bay, filled by high tide and free to use all year. It's a 20-metre basin with a toddler's section, ladders at both ends and wide views over the water.
- Highlights
- Free tidal pool filled by high tide
- 20 m basin with shallow and deep ends
- Separate toddler pool
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
5.Belleek Woods
A fairy trail in one of Europe's biggest urban woods
A 200-acre riverside woodland on the edge of Ballina, and one of Europe's largest urban forests — free to wander, with a fairy trail for children and red squirrels in the canopy.
- Highlights
- Fairy trail of miniature houses in trees and roots
- Six miles of forest paths along the River Moy
- Red squirrel sanctuary
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access
6.Carrowteige Loop Walk
Four clifftop loops above Broadhaven Bay
Four waymarked loops thread through bogs and cliff-edge sheep paths on one of the most remote stretches of the North Mayo coast, looking out to the Stags of Broadhaven. Despite the drama, the Kilgalligan cliffs stay remarkably quiet.
- Highlights
- Precipitous cliffs, crags, caves and chasms
- Bird's-eye views of the Stags of Broadhaven
- Four waymarked loops, 6 km to 13 km
7.Cross Loop walk
Two coastal loops past an abbey and a swan lake
Two waymarked coastal loops on the Mullet Peninsula, starting beside the ruins of Cross Abbey and tracing a long white strand, sand dunes and a swan-filled lake.
- Highlights
- Trailhead beside historic Cross Abbey ruins
- 2.5 km of white sandy beach at Cross Point
- Views out to Inis Gé and Inis Gluaire islands
- Facilities
- Good for kids
8.Doolough Valley Famine Memorial
The 1849 famine cross above a black lake
A haunting roadside memorial and one of the west of Ireland's most dramatic drives: a plain stone cross beneath Mweelrea mountain, marking where hundreds of starving people died on the road during the Great Famine of 1849.
- Highlights
- Plain stone cross engraved 'Doolough Tragedy 1849'
- Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Point
- Views over Doo Lough (the 'Black Lake') between Mweelrea and the Sheeffry Hills
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Dog-friendly
9.Erris Head Loop Walk
a 5km clifftop loop with sea arches and ÉIRE 62
A 5 km waymarked loop round Erris Head, the rugged northern tip of the Mullet Peninsula, where old earth-bank paths lead to unfenced Atlantic cliffs, sea arches and a wartime lookout.
See more about Erris Head Loop Walk →
10.Jackie Clarke Collection
an original 1916 Proclamation on display
The Clarke Museum of Irish History holds one of Ireland's most important private collections — over 100,000 items spanning 400 years, including an original 1916 Proclamation, in a restored 1881 bank building with a walled Victorian garden.
- Highlights
- Over 100,000 items spanning 400 years
- An original 1916 Proclamation behind the vault door
- Free admission
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
11.Keel Beach
A 4 km Blue Flag strand beneath 400 m cliffs
Keel Beach is a near-4 km sweep of golden sand on Achill Island, hemmed by the towering Minaun Cliffs and the open Atlantic. A Blue Flag strand, it is one of Ireland's most consistent surf spots and a sheltered spot for a summer swim.
- Highlights
- Blue Flag beach with summer lifeguards
- Nearly 4 km of sand from Keel village to the Minaun Cliffs
- One of Ireland's best and most consistent surf spots
- Facilities
- Good for kids
12.Tourmakeady Waterfall
A forest waterfall on a 2.2 km woodland loop
A mossy cascade hidden deep in the native woodland of Tourmakeady's People's Millennium Forest, tucked between Lough Mask and the Partry Mountains in a Mayo Gaeltacht village.
- Highlights
- Waterfall in native oak, alder and birch woodland
- Millennium Forest planted in 1999
- Two waymarked walk options (2.2 km or 4 km)
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
13.Westport Cruises
365 islands and a 400-strong seal colony by boat
A round-trip boat cruise from Westport Harbour into Clew Bay — 365 drumlin islands, a 400-strong seal colony, John Lennon's island and Croagh Patrick on the skyline.
- Highlights
- 365 drumlin islands
- Seal colony of about 400
- John Lennon's island (Dorinish)
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
14.Claggan Mountain Coastal Trail
A wheelchair-accessible boardwalk over Atlantic bog
A gentle 2 km boardwalk loop across Atlantic blanket bog and a sheltered shoreline, squeezed between the Nephin Beg mountains and Bellacragher Bay. It doubles as one of the national park's Gold Tier Dark Sky viewing points.
- Highlights
- 2 km easy loop, about half of it boardwalk
- Wheelchair accessible
- Gold Tier Mayo Dark Sky viewing point
15.Dún na mBó
Iron Age fort, blowhole and a thin-place sculpture
A cliff-top sculpture frames a natural sea blowhole on the wild Mullet Peninsula, where Atlantic swell sprays up through the rock beside the site of an Iron Age promontory fort.
- Highlights
- Natural sea blowhole ringed by a 2002 Travis Price sculpture
- Cliff-top views to Eagle Island Lighthouse
- Site of an Iron Age promontory fort (excavated 1999)
16.Moore Hall
A 1792 mansion left a roofless ruin by fire
A roofless neo-classical mansion on the shores of Lough Carra, with forest trails, a walled garden and free entry all year.
- Highlights
- Roofless 1790s neo-classical mansion
- Free entry, open all year
- 3 km waymarked forest loop
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
17.National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park
Four floors of rural life and a Victorian mansion
Ireland's national folk life collection, spread over four floors of a modern gallery beside a Victorian Gothic mansion and Green Flag gardens — all free to enter.
- Highlights
- Ireland's National Folklife Collection (c.35,000 objects)
- 1865 Victorian Gothic Turlough Park House
- Green Flag Victorian gardens and lakeside walks
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
18.Rosserk Friary
Free-to-enter 15th-century friary on the Moy
Rosserk Friary is one of Ireland's best-preserved Franciscan ruins — a near-complete late-Gothic church, cloister and bell tower standing on the banks of the River Moy near Killala.
- Highlights
- Near-complete late Irish Gothic church and cloister
- Unique double piscina with a carved round tower
- Bell tower suspended over the chancel arch
- Facilities
- Good for kids
19.The Achill Experience Aquarium & Visitor Centre
16 tanks, sharks and tours every 45 minutes
Achill's all-weather indoor attraction: Mayo's first and only aquarium, pairing 16 tanks of native and tropical sea life with a museum of island history, all under one accessible roof. Guided tours run every 45 minutes.
- Highlights
- Mayo's first and only aquarium
- 16 tanks, 58+ species
- Guided tours every 45 minutes
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
20.The Lost Valley
A guided walk through a deserted famine village
A roadless valley on the Mayo coast where a deserted famine village, potato ridges and a working sheep farm have survived almost untouched for two centuries. Access is only by guided tour of the Bourke family's land.
- Highlights
- Arguably the finest surviving memorial of the Great Famine in Ireland
- Deserted village and potato ridges undisturbed for nearly 200 years
- Working sheepdog demonstration and, in season, sheep shearing
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
21.The Wild West
A cowboy-themed indoor playground for under-10s
A Wild West themed indoor play village in the middle of Westport, built for toddlers up to about ten-year-olds and handy when the Mayo rain sets in.
- Highlights
- Wild West themed activity frame with slides, ball pit, tunnel slide, basketball and soccer areas
- Sensory room with bubble tube, infinity mirror and fibre optic lighting
- Café using local suppliers and Bean West coffee
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
22.Tom Ruane Park
One of the country's most inclusive free playgrounds
An award-winning, fully accessible riverside playground and sports park on the Sligo Road, free to enter and a ten-minute walk from Ballina town centre.
- Highlights
- Free admission, no tickets
- Named in the Irish Times 50 best playgrounds in Ireland
- Double slide, zip line and maze among the play equipment
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access
23.Cong Abbey
Ruined abbey where the last High King died
The atmospheric ruin of a 12th-century Augustinian abbey founded by Turlough O'Connor, High King of Connacht, in the Mayo village of Cong. Finely carved Romanesque stonework, royal burials and the monks' roofless fishing house on the Cong River make it one of the west's most evocative monastic sites.
- Highlights
- Augustinian abbey founded c.1137 by Turlough O'Connor, first Augustinian house in Connacht
- Burial place of Rory O'Connor, last High King of Ireland
- Late-Romanesque 'School of the West' carving on doorways, capitals and corbels
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
24.Graune Pet Farm And Play Centre
Pet farm with three big indoor slides
A family-run pet farm and play centre in the heart of County Mayo, where kids can bottle-feed animals, race down three giant indoor slides and burn off steam outdoors, rain or shine.
- Highlights
- Wide range of animals to view and feed by hand
- Indoor Kidzone play centre with three big slides
- Outdoor playgrounds, zip wires and sandpits
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
25.McMahon Park (Clare Lake)
A one-mile lake loop past a 2000-year-old crannóg
McMahon Park (Clare Lake) is a 9-acre town park on the south side of Claremorris, wrapped around a quiet lake with a flat one-mile loop walk, three bridges, a lake crannóg and a fairy trail for kids.
- Highlights
- One-mile (3km) multi-access loop around Clare Lake
- Three bridges, including a humpback wooden bridge
- 2,000-year-old lake crannóg and a 4,000-year-old one in the marsh
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access
26.National Famine Memorial
A haunting bronze coffin ship by Clew Bay
A bronze "coffin ship" with skeletal figures in the rigging, unveiled in 1997 at the foot of Croagh Patrick — Ireland's national memorial to the Great Famine dead.
- Highlights
- John Behan's bronze Coffin Ship sculpture, unveiled 1997
- Skeletal figures woven through the rigging
- Setting at the foot of Croagh Patrick
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
27.Aasleagh Falls
a four-metre cascade best after heavy rain
A small but photogenic waterfall where the River Erriff drops about four metres into Killary Harbour, framed by the mountains of the Galway-Mayo border. It is a quick roadside stop that roars after rain.
- Highlights
- Wild Atlantic Way Signature Point
- Start of the Western Way long-distance trail
- David Attenborough filmed a European eel segment here
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Wheelchair access
28.Céide Fields Visitors Centre and Car Park
the world's oldest known stone-walled fields
Beneath the wild blanket bog of north Mayo lies the most extensive Stone Age monument in the world: almost 6,000-year-old stone-walled fields, watched over by an award-winning visitor centre and a platform on the edge of a 110-metre cliff.
- Highlights
- Oldest known stone-walled farmland on earth, almost 6,000 years old
- 110 m cliff-edge viewing platform over the Atlantic
- Award-winning visitor centre with two floors of exhibitions
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
29.Westport House
Treetop net park and quarry ziplines
A 430-acre Georgian estate where Clew Bay meets Westport, now best known for Ireland's largest Net Park, quarry-edge ziplines and a wood-fired pizzeria. Westport House itself is closed for redevelopment, but the grounds, gates and adventure park stay open.
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
30.Céide Fields
The world's oldest known stone field walls
Beneath a wild Mayo blanket bog lies the most extensive Stone Age monument in the world — almost 6,000-year-old stone-walled fields, with an award-winning visitor centre and a cliff-edge viewing platform above the Atlantic.
- Highlights
- World's most extensive Stone Age monument
- Fields nearly 6,000 years old under blanket bog
- 110 m cliff-edge viewing platform
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
31.Mayo Leisure Point
Bowling, laser tag, cinema and soft play under one roof
Mayo Leisure Point is a big indoor entertainment complex in Castlebar where you can bowl, play laser tag, let younger kids loose in a three-level soft play zone, hit the arcade or catch a film in the on-site seven-screen cinema. It opens every day of the year and everything sits under one roof.
- Highlights
- 8 ten-pin bowling lanes with automatic bumpers
- Q-2000 laser tag arena for ages 6+
- Nokeys Adventureland soft play over 3 levels
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
32.Funster Playcentre Children's Play Centre
Multi-level soft play with a tube slide
Castlebar's multi-level indoor soft-play centre, with a tube slide, a supervised baby and toddler zone and a big café for the grown-ups. A 4ft 9in height restriction applies to the play equipment.
- Highlights
- Multi-level adventure play with a tube slide
- Under-5 and baby play zone
- Indoor football and basketball
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access