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CROSS, MAYO

Cross (Irish: An Chrois) is a village in the south of County Mayo close to Cong

Between Cong & Cross, there are five roads on your right (coming from Cong direction), only one boreen on your left that goes to Ballymacgibbon Cairn.

Ballymacgibbon Cairn, recorded as a National Monument, is atop a hill 1.4 km west of Cross village, County Mayo, and near to Cong. It has never been excavated, but is believed to have been constructed in the Neolithic period. Local historian and physician William Wilde (father of Oscar Wilde) claimed that the cairn was erected by the mythical king Eochaid mac Eirc to celebrate the Battle of Moytura, the name given to two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish mythology. The two texts tell of battles fought by the Tuatha Dé Danann (a supernatural race in Irish mythology thought to represent the main deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland), the first against the Fir Bolg, and the second against the Fomorians. Other stone circles are nearby.

The third turn right goes to Moytura House, built by Sir William Wilde in 1865. Sir William was a leading eye and ear surgeon in Dublin and an author on Medicine, Irish Archaeology, & Peasant Folklore. Sir William & his wife Jane had two sons, Willie and Oscar and a daughter Isola Emily who died aged 10 years. Oscar spent all his summers in Moytura House until his early twenties. The house is now in private ownership.

The fifth turn on the right takes you to Derry Quay (also known as Derries). About 300m in the road, on the left side, there is a ruin of Killursagh church. It was found by St. Fursa, in the 7th century AD. There is a good view of Salthouse bay from Derry Quay. The bay got its name from the Salt-House. The ruin of the Salt-House is on your right as you enter into the quay. Sea water and rock salt were brought from Galway by a corrib pookawn (or turf boat) with two sails, and here turned by evaporation into the edible material. The salt was then collected by horse & cart.

Also in Cross is Garracloon Lodge, which is listed in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (18th century). The John Holian Memorial Cup cycle race is hosted annually from Cross. John Holian was a founder member of the Western Lakes Cycle Club, formed in 1999, and was a great stalwart to cycling in the whole province of Connacht, acting as manager, mechanic and driver to many Connacht teams over the years.

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