MAYO, RICHARD SOUTHWELL BOURKE, 6TH EARL OF (1822-1872), British
statesman, son of Robert Bourke, the 5th earl (1797-1867), was born in
Dublin on the 21st of February, 1822, and was educated at Trinity
College, Dublin. After travelling in Russia he entered parliament, and
sat successively for Kildare, Coleraine and Cockermouth. He was chief
secretary for Ireland in three administrations, in 1852, 1858 and 1866,
and was appointed viceroy of India in January 1869. He consolidated the
frontiers of India and met Shere Ali, amir of Afghanistan, in durbar at
Umballa in March 1869. His reorganization of the finances of the country
put India on a paying basis; and he did much to promote irrigation,
railways, forests and other useful public works. Visiting the convict
settlement at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, for the purpose of
inspection, the viceroy was assassinated by a convict on the 8th of
February 1872. His successor was his son, Dermot Robert Wyndham Bourke
(b. 1851) who became 7th earl of Mayo.
See Sir W. W. Hunter, _Life of the Earl of Mayo_, (1876), and _The
Earl of Mayo_ in the Rulers of India Series (1891).
MAYO, a western county of Ireland, in the province of Connaught, bounded
N. and W. by the Atlantic Ocean, N.E. by Sligo, E. by Roscommon, S.E.
and S. by Galway. The area is 1,380,390 acres, or about 2157 sq. m., the
county being the largest in Ireland after Cork and Galway. About
two-thirds of the boundary of Mayo is formed by sea, and the coast is
very much indented, and abounds in picturesque scenery. The principal
inlets are Killary Harbour between Mayo and Galway; Clew Bay, in which
are the harbours of Westport and Newport; Blacksod Bay and Broad Haven,
which form the peninsula of the Mullet; and Killala Bay between Mayo and
Sligo. The islands are very numerous, the principal being Inishturk,
near Killary Harbour; Clare Island, at the mouth of Clew Bay, where
there are many islets, all formed of drift; and Achill, the largest
island off Ireland. The coast scenery is not surpassed by that of
Donegal northward and Connemara southward, and there are several small
coast-towns, among which may be named Killala on the north coast,
Belmullet on the isthmus between Blacksod Bay and Broad Haven, Newport
and Westport on Clew Bay, with the watering-place of Mallaranny. The
majestic cliffs of the north coast, however, which reach an extreme
height in Benwee Head (892 ft.), are difficult of access and rarely
visited. In the eastern half of the county the surface is comparatively
level, with occasional hills; the western half is mountainous. Mweelrea
(2688 ft.) is included in a mountain range lying between Killary Harbour
and Lough Mask. The next highest summits are Nephin (2646 ft.), to the
west of Lough Conn, and Croagh Patrick (2510 ft.), to the south of Clew
Bay. The river Moy flows northwards, forming part of the boundary of the
county with Sligo, and falls into Killala Bay. The courses of the other
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