Five places, and no two of them within easy walking distance of each other. The Museum of Country Life, the only branch of the National Museum of Ireland outside Dublin, sits at Turlough Park just outside Castlebar. Four floors trace rural life from the 1850s to the 1970s, the galleries sit behind a Victorian Gothic house with 30 acres of gardens, an ornamental lake and a round tower, and entry is free. The Great Western Greenway ends at the gate, and a riverside greenway runs back into the town.
Ballinglen Museum of Art is at the other end of the county, in Ballycastle on the north coast. Since 1992, artists on fellowship have each left a work behind, so the collection records the same stretch of coast across thirty years. Entry is free, and Céide Fields and Downpatrick Head are a short drive on. Clew Bay Heritage Centre is the one you can walk to from a town, on Westport Quay in a stone building that once penned pigs for export. It covers Grace O’Malley, Croagh Patrick and John MacBride, and runs a genealogy service.
The Quiet Man Museum in Cong rebuilds White O’Morn inside and out, and a one-hour walking tour leaves at noon for the film locations around the village. Straide is the smallest stop: Michael Davitt, founder of the Irish Land League, was born there in 1846 and is buried in the grounds of the ruined friary, with a museum in a restored church alongside.
Free to enter, holding work left behind by hundreds of fellowship artists since 1992, all of it recording the same stretch of north Mayo coast.
The county town is the base for the Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park, the only branch of the National Museum outside Dublin, and free.
A small, hands-on museum on Westport Quay covering Grace O'Malley, Croagh Patrick and the planned town, with a genealogy service for tracing Mayo roots.
The only recreation of White O'Morn inside and out, filled with original pieces, and the starting point for a noon walking tour of Cong's film locations.
Michael Davitt's birthplace and burial place, with a museum in a restored church and the ruined friary's carved medieval stonework a few steps away.
6 of 7 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Ballycastle, mayo
The Ballinglen Museum of Art holds work by hundreds of Irish and international artists who came to Ballycastle on fellowship since 1992, each leaving a piece behind. Paintings, prints and photographs record the same stretch of north Mayo coast across thirty years, and entry is free. It's a short drive from Céide Fields and Downpatrick Head.
Castlebar, mayo
Castlebar is Mayo's county town, more a working base than a tourist stop, but it holds the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life at Turlough Park, the only branch of the National Museum outside Dublin, and free. It's also where a French and Irish army routed the British in the 1798 'Races of Castlebar', a rout so fast the hill above town is still called Staball. A riverside greenway links the town out to the museum.
Westport, mayo
The Clew Bay Heritage Centre is a small, hands-on museum on Westport Quay, in a 19th-century stone building that once penned pigs for export. Run by the Westport Historical Society since 1987, it covers Grace O'Malley, Croagh Patrick, John MacBride and the history of the planned town, and runs a genealogy service for tracing Mayo roots from Achill to Louisburgh.
Cong, mayo
The Quiet Man Museum in Cong is the only place that recreates both the outside and the inside of White O'Morn, the film's cottage - and the interior was only ever a Hollywood set. Original pieces fill it, from Father Lonergan's fishing rod to the harness of Michaeleen's horse, and a one-hour walking tour leaves at noon for the actual locations around the village.
Straide, mayo
Straide is a small Mayo village with one big name. Michael Davitt, founder of the Irish Land League, was born here in 1846 and is buried in the grounds of the ruined friary. A museum in a restored old church tells his story, and the friary's carved medieval stonework stands a few steps away.
Turlough, mayo
Turlough's squat medieval round tower stands beside the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, the only national museum outside Dublin and free to enter. Four floors trace rural Irish life from 1850 to 1950, set in a Victorian Gothic house with award-winning gardens, a restored glasshouse and the end of the Great Western Greenway at the gate.
Castlebar, mayo
Turlough Park holds the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, the only branch outside Dublin, with roughly 35,000 objects from rural life between the 1850s and the 1970s. Entry is free. The galleries sit in a modern block behind a Victorian Gothic house, with 30 acres of gardens, an ornamental lake and a round tower to walk afterwards.
← All things to do in County Mayo
Book tours & tickets
We may earn a commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you.
Book tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips with GetYourGuide. Free cancellation on most experiences.
See tours & tickets in County Mayo →