Editing County Mayo (section)

===Anglo-Normans (12th to 16th centuries)===
In AD 1169 when one of the warring kings in the east of Ireland, [[Dermot MacMurrough]], appealed to the King of England for help in his fight with a neighbouring king, the response resulted in the Anglo-Norman colonisation of Ireland.
County Mayo came under Norman control in AD 1235. Norman control meant the eclipse of many Gaelic lords and chieftains, chiefly the O'Connors of Connacht.<ref name="County Mayo: An Outline History" /> During the 1230s, the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]]s and [[Wales|Welsh]] under [[Richard Mór de Burgh]] (c. 1194 – 1242) invaded and settled in the county, introducing new families such as [[House of Burke|Burke]], [[Gibbons (surname)|Gibbons]], [[Staunton (surname)|Staunton]], [[Prendergast (surname)|Prendergast]], [[Morris (surname)|Morris]], [[Joyce (name)|Joyce]], [[Walsh (surname)|Walsh]], [[Barrett (surname)|Barrett]], [[Lynott (disambiguation)|Lynott]], [[Costello (surname)|Costello]], [[Padden]] and [[Price (surname)|Price]], Norman names are still common in County Mayo. Following the collapse of the lordship in the 1330s, all these families became estranged from the [[Anglo-Irish]] administration based in [[Dublin]] and assimilated with the Gaelic-Irish, adopting their language, religion, dress, laws, customs and culture and marrying into Irish families. They became "[[more Irish than the Irish themselves]]".

The most powerful clan to emerge during this era were the Mac William Burkes, also known as the [[Mac William Iochtar]] (see [[Burke Civil War]] 1333–1338), descended from Sir [[William Liath de Burgh]], who defeated the Gaelic-Irish at the [[Second Battle of Athenry]] in August 1316. They were frequently at war with their cousins, [[Clanricarde]] of [[Galway]], and in alliance with or against various factions of the O'Conor's of Siol Muiredaig and [[Kelly (surname)|O'Kelly]]'s of [[Uí Maine]]. The [[O'Donnell dynasty|O'Donnell]]'s of [[Tyrconnell]] regularly invaded in an attempt to secure their right to rule.

[[File:Grace O'Malley00.jpg|right|thumb|[[Grace O'Malley]] meeting Queen Elizabeth I]]
The Anglo-Normans encouraged and established many religious orders from continental Europe to settle in Ireland. Mendicant orders—[[Augustinians]], [[Carmelites]], [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] and [[Franciscans]] began new settlements across Ireland and built large churches, many under the patronage of prominent [[Gaels|Gaelic]] families. Some of these sites include [[Cong, County Mayo|Cong]], [[Strade]], [[Ballintubber]], [[Errew Abbey]], [[Burrishoole Friary|Burrishoole Abbey]] and [[School of Mayo|Mayo Abbey]].<ref name="Anglo-Norman">{{cite web|url=http://www.uni-due.de/LI/Anglo_Norman.htm|title=Universität Duisburg-Essen: Language in Ireland|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425004208/http://www.uni-due.de/LI/Anglo_Norman.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> During the 15th and 16th centuries, despite regular conflicts between them as England chopped and changed between religious beliefs, the Irish usually regarded the King of England as their King. When [[Elizabeth I]] came to the throne in the mid-16th century, the English people, as was customary at that time, followed the religious practices of the reigning monarch and became Protestant. Many Irish people such as [[Grace O'Malley]], the famous pirate queen, had close relationships with the English monarchy, and the English kings and queens were welcome visitors to Irish shores. The Irish however, generally held onto their Catholic religious practices and beliefs. The early plantations of settlers in Ireland began during the reign of Queen Mary in the mid-16th century and continued throughout the long reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] until 1603. By then the term ''County Mayo'' had come into use. In the summer of 1588, the galleons of the [[Spanish Armada]] were wrecked by storms along the west coast of Ireland. Some of the hapless Spaniards came ashore in Mayo, only to be robbed and imprisoned, and in many cases slaughtered.

Almost all the religious foundations set up by the Anglo-Normans were suppressed in the wake of the [[Reformation]] in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/history/15411598.html|title=History of Ireland 1541 - 1598: Protestant Reformation and the Offaly & Munster Plantations|website=www.wesleyjohnston.com|access-date=5 July 2010|archive-date=14 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414041550/http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/history/15411598.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Protestantism|Protestant]] settlers from [[Scotland]], [[England]], and elsewhere in Ireland, settled in the County in the early 17th century. Many would be killed or forced to flee because of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1641|1641 Rebellion]], during which a number of massacres were committed by the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Gaels|Gaelic]] Irish, most notably at [[Shrule]] in 1642. A third of the overall population was reported to have perished due to warfare, famine and plague between 1641 and 1653, with several areas remaining disturbed and frequented by [[Whiteboys|Reparees]] into the 1670s.