Mass Rock Sites of:
County MAYO
Ballyhaunis Friary Mass Site, County Mayo
This site was identified through the Schools’ Collection of the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin which states that ‘There is a pathway which leads from our house in Derrynacong to Cribben's in Moneymore'.
It is said that numerous armies passed along that pathway in search of the people who attended Mass in Ballyhaunis Friary.
There is another road which leads from Grogan's in Derrynacong to Cribben's in Moneymore. It is also believed that there is a road which leads from a by-road to Forde's bog. It was a hiding place for the priests in penal days’ ([NFCS] 107, 23).
The original friary no longer remains but the following website advises that the following parts have been incorporated into the existing friary:
https://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/towns-villages/ballyhaunis/ballyhaunis-history-original-friary.html
(a) the west wall (with the two lower windows and part of the doorway),
(b) the north wall (excluding the porch and sacristy), with at least parts of the windows (the date of the present east wall is uncertain)
(c) the recently discovered window from the south wall.
Lankill Mass Rock, County Mayo
SITUATED ON PRIVATE LAND
This site was identified from an article titled "CULTURE Legacy of Lankill" by Aine Ryan which appeared in The Mayo News in 2015. ‘It is a long strip of land sloping down to Ballinlough lake much of which was covered in woodland up to the beginning of the last century, when it was cut down for export. Hidden in this woodland were church grounds, the remains such as a Mass rock, a cillín (children’s burial ground) a standing stone with pagan markings crossed with a cross, all indicating an ancient monastic site, and so Lankill (Lainn-Cilleadh) in Irish means a long narrow stripe of woodland which contains church grounds’
In the Journal of Westport Historical Society (John Keville Aughagower Part 3 1984, 4 (1)) the Mass Rock is described as being in the old Lankill graveyard.
Sadly we were not able to access this site but the owner confirmed that the Mass Rock is still in situ.
Coordinates: 53°45'11.5"N 9°30'05.8"W