Know Your Locality - MAYO

We are delighted to offer a FREE* hybrid (online plus an in-person field trip) course that will take you step-by-step through the available online sources that will allow you to paint a picture of the geological, archaeological, and historical events that happened close to where you live. While the course will look at examples from throughout Ireland, it will focus on the geology, archaeology and history of the county of Mayo. As such the course is aimed toward residents of Mayo (who will be given preference for available course places) as well as enthusiasts of Mayo’s natural and cultural heritage.

The course will be delivered through six online tutorials every Tuesday over six weeks commencing Tuesday 11th February 2025. We will begin by looking at the very bedrock under your feet, examining the geological processes and glacial events that shaped the landscape and formed the soils. The course then focuses on the impacts of humans on that landscape over time, from pre-history to the last century.

The first workshop includes a summary of the course content and format. Prior to the course starting, participants will be sent a list of resources/links so that they can study their own locality. Each workshop will each teach an aspect of Irish geology, archaeology and history, and go through a series of fabulous online resources, allowing the participants to build a picture of their home over time.

Our field trip will be on Saturday 1st March, when we will explore the landscape, archaeology, history and myth of a Mayo heritage gem (the place and exact time is TBC), but it will be in the late morning, and we will include a nice coffee shop at the end :)

* kindly funded by the Heritage Council through the Heritage Office of Mayo County Council.