An A to Z of some of the weird and wonderful events that have made the headlines in Mayo down through the years
An alternative guide to Mayo ...Daniel Carey takes an alphabetical look at some of the weird and wonderful events that have made the headlines in MayoA is for Active Age, a pensioners’ organisation whose members see more of the county than many tourists. One group from Balla toured Ballina and Belmullet, which took in an unusual attraction – the controversial Shell gas terminal in Bellanaboy.
B is for Barefoot, which is how some hardy pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick. It also featured in a vow made by journalist SeΡn Rice, who was so confident Mayo footballers would beat Galway in 1967 that he promised to ‘walk from Pearse Stadium barefoot’ if they didn’t. Thankfully, Mayo emerged victorious.
C is for Charlestown, home town of campaigning journalist John Healy, and the site of a minor football match which hit the headlines last year. GAA official Vincent Walsh wasn’t keen on the ‘ferocious loud rave music’ the Ballaghaderreen team used in their dressing room beforehand, saying traditional music would have been more appropriate.
D is for Dogs, which as walking tourists know, aren’t always man’s best friend. Fine Gael politician Michael Ring has twice been bitten while on the campaign trail, but reckons ‘you have a great chance of getting the vote in a house if a dog bites you’.
E is for Eggs, which are rarely tourist attractions, except perhaps in Tiernaur, where Kevin Rickard claimed last year to have found the smallest egg in the world. “Comparing this egg to a regular hen egg in size would be like putting a couple of Maltesers beside a Cadbury’s Creme Egg,” he said.
F is for Farming, which often proves a big hit with tourists from non-farming backgrounds. Paddy Rock suggested last year that sheep shearing be made part of the school curriculum.
G is for Green and Red, the colours worn by Mayo football supporters – human and equine! In a successful effort to win tickets for the 2006 All-Ireland football final, one woman brought her horse into the sitting room, put a green and red flag on it, and photographed it watching the game between Mayo and Dublin.
H is for Harry Potter, who is thought by some to resemble a figure in the magnificent Harry Clarke stained glass window in St Mary’s Church, Ballinrobe. Judge this unique attraction for yourself!
I is for Irishtown, home of both the 19th century Land League and a 101-year-old woman who received a summons last year to do jury service in Castlebar. Brigid Kirrane from Kilvine was eventually excused from duty.
J is for Journey, an activity familiar to both tourists and ‘Tigger’ the cat, who successfully completed the 162-mile trip from Louisburgh to Dublin in the bonnet of a Honda Civic last year. None the worse for his long trek, he was later reunited with his owners.
K is for Killala, where French forces landed ahead in 1798. It’s also where a court sat 150 years later to hear the case of a Ballina man who was found carrying 24 passengers in a lorry. They were members of the Bonniconlon club football team en route to play Ballycastle.
L is for Local Radio, which tourists are bound to hear at one point or another during their stay in Mayo. Midwest Radio is left on continuously in one Castlebar house ‘because the dog prefers it’ to other stations.
M is for Mulranny, home to a unique golf course which American golf writer Tom Coyne fell in love with. “To knock [the ball] along a stretch of seaside turf that you are sharing with donkeys, sheep, cows and horses is an absolute treat,” said Coyne.
N is for Nudity, which is not tolerated on Mayo beaches, but did feature at a football match in 2006. Wearing nothing but a pair of runners and a black balaclava, a streaker interrupted a game in Parke, and ‘livened up a dull enough affair’, according to referee Jimmy Feeney.
O is for Olympics, as in Winter Olympics 2026, which Mayo man Michael Hambly wants to stage in the west of Ireland. Hambly said that because of global warming, there is ‘a distinct possibility’ that the Irish climate could be ‘heading for a mini Ice Age’.
P is for Potato-Picking, one of several novelty events enjoyed by locals and visitors to last year’s Abbey Pattern in Ballyhaunis. Nappy-hanging and nail-hammering were also on the agenda.
Q is for The Quiet Man, a film which continues to attract tourists to Cong. The late Joe Mellotte, John Wayne’s ‘double’ for the film, watched the finished product in Connemara. Noting the rain on the screen, the man beside him, who was watching his first ever movie, noted: “It must be an awful bad night outside.”
R is for Reek, site of an annual pilgrimage, and home of the odd strange vow. After last year’s general election decimated the Progressive Democrats, one PD supporter was asked if he would follow surviving TD Noel Grealish into the Fianna FΡil party. His response? “We’d follow him naked up Croagh Patrick and down again!”
S is for Saoirse Molloy, the name of the refrigerator which accompanied English author Tony Hawks for his travelogue ‘Round Ireland With A Fridge’. The fridge was ‘christened’ in Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport, and was later blessed by the Mother Superior of a convent of Benedictine nuns.
T is for Traffic Lights, the bane of impatient locals and visitors alike, which prompted a memorable complaint from Labour Party councillor Johnny Mee. Commenting on how long motorists had to wait for lights to turn green on the N26 and N5 roads, he referred to Mayo as ‘the longest red light district in Ireland’.
U is for Unreliable, which is one way to describe the spoof email circulated last year suggesting that Leenane bridge had been blown up by a radical terrorist group called Al Tourmakeada as part of a campaign to keep all Mayo people out of neighbouring Galway. The bridge had, in fact, been washed away by flooding, and has since been replaced.
V is for Video, of which there are many with Mayo themes on the internet. A particular favourite is the YouTube effort entitled ‘Mayo farmers with too much time on their hands’, which shows a sheep wearing a scary skeleton mask and chasing after other sheep. You couldn’t make it up.
W is for Werewolves, which, according to a mischievous Wikipedia article published last year, are rampant in Swinford. The hastily-deleted (and obviously untrue) internet encyclopaedia entry also suggested that a militia had been formed in the east Mayo town to fight off the threat!
X is for X Factor – or should that be S Factor, the talent contest promoting road safety through music which was held in Ballina in February. The winning entry was entitled ‘Cars and Coffins’.
Y is for Yawl Racing, a popular activity in Achill. The island also hosts a traditional music competition known as ‘Hata Acla’, which commemorates the custom whereby a community hat was a hung on a post, available to any hatless man who wanted something on his head when going to the mainland.
Z is for Zzzz, or sleep, which in Mayo as elsewhere, is usually preceded by people putting on pyjamas. Except in March 2007, when general election candidates John O’Mahony and Beverley Flynn donned their nightwear in daytime for National Pyjama Day. Both individuals were elected.
