family history research centre

The Centres are a natural progression of the work of the Crossmolina Historical and Archaeological Society, founded in 1981 by a group interested in local history and community development. The group aimed to research and document anything of historical or cultural value in the locality and to set up a multi-faceted centre serving as: - A Family History Research Unit - A Farm Machinery and Rural Artefact Museum - A Focal Point for: Visitors and Tourists. Schools and Community Projects Local History and Folklore. The Society's work has culminated in the opening of a spacious and well-equipped Heritage Centre serving as a workplace and exhibition area for our successful projects. President Mary Robinson opened the centre in April 1992. This was particularly appropriate as her family, the Bourkes, hail form North Mayo, indeed the area has been called the "Cradle of the Bourkes". FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH CENTRE The Mayo North Family History Research Centre is a designed centre of the Irish Genealogical Project and is part of a national network of centres under the auspices of the Irish Family History Foundation. The Centre caters for enquiries for the northern half of Mayo, and it holds indexes to Church Registers of all denominations.

The town of Crossmolina, situated on the banks of the River Deel, is an attractive centre for exploring North Mayo. Other major visitor attractions in the area include the archaeological site at Ceide Fields near Ballycastle, the Heritage Centre at Foxford Woollen Mills, and the Carne project at Belmullet. Enniscoe is situated on Lough Conn, two miles south of Crossmolina on the road to Pontoon and Castlebar and ten miles from Ballina.

The Centre is open Monday to Friday throughout the year. It is also open on Saturdays and Sundays in the main holiday season, and at other times by arrangement.