Turlough, (: in particular, a seasonal lake) is a village in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, 6 km northeast of

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

. It is known for the presence of the Museum of Country Life (part of the National Museum of Ireland), and for its well-preserved and unusually squat round tower, built between 900 and 1200. Turlough is also the name of the encompassing

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and the surrounding 241-acre

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

. The village lies along the Castlebar River () just off the N5 road, and the countryside around the village is scattered with standing stones, a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

, ''fulachtaí fia'', and '' cillíní''.

FitzGerald family

In the eighteenth century it was the home of a branch of the FitzGerald family, distant cousins to the

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond ( meaning Earl of South Munster) is a title of nobility created by the English monarch in the peerage of Ireland. The title has been created four times. It was first awarded in 1329 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, Maur ...

. The most celebrated member of the family was the notably eccentric George Robert FitzGerald, nicknamed "Fighting FitzGerald". Having spent most of his short life gambling and duelling, he was hanged for conspiracy to

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

his father's attorney in 1786.

Facilities

Turlough's facilities include a pub ('The Turlough Inn'), a shop, a hair salon, and a lifestyle and garden centre with a restaurant a short distance away. Turlough is also home to a branch of the National Museum of Ireland, the ' Museum of Country Life'.

References

{{coord, 53, 52, 59.9694, N, 9, 13, 6.3402, W, region:IE-MO_type:city_scale:10000, display=title Towns and villages in County Mayo Civil parishes of County Mayo

FitzGerald family

Facilities

See also

References