South Mayo History

Emigration from Mayo

Emigrants from Mayo in the early 1700s settled in Jamaica and Monserrat. By the end of the 1700s emigrants were leaving for Australia, America and Canada. Famine emigration was chiefly to New York, Boston, Philadelphia and the north of England.

By the end of the 19th century, the U.S. cities of New York, Jersey City, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago received the bulk of Mayo emigrants. There was a tendency for emigrants from Mayo to settle amongst Mayo emigrants already settled in the U.S.A. and U.K. For instance, emigrants from the Ballina area of Mayo frequently settled in Scranton, PA, USA; many emigrants from the Louisburgh area of Co. Mayo settled in Clinton, MA, U.S.A.,  while emigrants from the eastern part of Mayo frequently settled at Bury and Rochdale in England.