Mayo Day at Jackie Clarke Collection
Opening of Leeds and North Mayo: A Diaspora Connection “The Nearest Place that Wasn’t Home”
The bond between Leeds and North Mayo is rooted in generations of migration, resilience, and cultural continuity. From the late 19th century through to the post-war years, North Mayo—like much of rural Ireland—witnessed waves of emigration. Leeds, an industrial hub in West Yorkshire, became a prominent destination. Drawn by work opportunities in construction, textiles, nursing, and public services, many young men and women from towns and villages like Ballina, Bonniconlon, Attymass, Crossmolina, and Killala settled there, carving out new lives while maintaining strong ties to home.
This connection blossomed especially during the 1950s and 60s, when emigration from Mayo surged. In Leeds, the Irish community flourished. Churches, GAA clubs, and social halls became vital meeting points, where accents from Mayo mingled with music, stories, and the rituals of home. Families grew, yet the pull of Mayo remained powerful—return trips in summer and Christmas if you were lucky, a good bulk of the weekly wages sent back home to the family, and the passing on of heritage to the next generation were common to so many people who experienced that Leeds/ Mayo Connection.
Today, the legacy of those migrants lives on. Leeds remains home to a proud Irish community, many of whom trace their roots directly to North Mayo. Cultural Groups/Clubs, Irish centres, and annual events like the Leeds Irish Festival continue to celebrate these deep connections. Meanwhile, in Mayo, the stories of those who left—some for good, others who returned—form an integral part of the local narrative, often captured in oral histories, family archives, and community memory.
My own colleagues here throw their eyes up to heaven with my own “Catch Phrase” I myself was born in England of Irish Parents” - even though my Dad never allowed us to have an English Passport – but that as they say is for another conversation.
The Leeds-North Mayo link is more than geographic; it’s a thread of shared history and identity, woven across the Irish Sea, representing endurance, adaptability, and the enduring spirit of the Irish diaspora