MA'YO, a maritime county of the province of Connaught, Ireland, is bounded on the n. and w. by the Atlantic ocean, e. by Sligo and Roscommon, and s. by Galway. Area, -1,363,882 acres, of which 497,587 are arable; population, which in 1861 was 254,449, had fallen in 1871 to 246,030, of whom 238,319 were Roman Catholics, 6,096 Protestant Episcopalians, and the rest Protestants of other denominations. The coast-line of Mayo about 250 miles. The surface is very irregular, the interior being a plain bordered by two ranges of mountains. Of these ranges, the highest points are Croagh Patrick, .2,610 ft., and Nephin, 2,646 ft. in height. The soil of the plain is fertile, and for the most part suitable either for tillage or for pasture, although the prevalence of rain and ungenial winds render tillage, especially of wheat and potatoes, precarious and um'e munerative. The number of acres under crop in 1878 was 192,021. The rearing of cattle forms in most parts of the county the more ordinary pursuit of the agricultural 'population. In 1875 the number of cattle was 174,614; sheep, 300,328; and of pigs, -53,661. Ironstone abounds in some districts, but, owing to want of fuel, no attempt is made to work it. An excellent marble is found in the north-western district, and there are several places in which slates are successfully quarried. The chief towns
:are Castlebar, 1Vestport, Ballina, and Ballinrobe. Almost the only occupations of the ,population are agriculture and fishing. A valuable salmon-fishery exists in the river Moy; and the small lake of Lough Mask is the habitation of the well-known "gil laroo" trout. The Irish lan,,auage is still spoken in a large part of Mayo. The num iber of pupils attending school during 1875 was 50,173—an increase of nearly 10,000 since 1871.
Mayo formed part of the extensive tertitoty granted by Henry II, to William de Burgho; but in the middle of the 14th c. one of the younger branches of the family, .seizing on the counties of Galway and Mayo, threw off the English allegiance, :adopted the " customs of the Irishry," together with the Celtic name of MacWilliam. In the year 1575 the MacWilliam made his submission at Galway; but having subse ,quently revolted, the district was finally subdued by sir Richard Bingham in 1586. The antiquities of Mayo are chiefly ecclesiastical. Four round towers are still in existence, and there are at Core, the remains of a splendid abbey, which dates from the 12th cen tury. The celebrated " Cross of Cong,' now in the museum of the royal Irisb academy, 'was the archiepiscopal crosier of Tnam, once preserved in the abbey of that name.