Turlough Cemetery Mass

What to Expect

Castlebar Parish celebrates its annual cemetery Mass at Turlough Cemetery on Friday 14 August at 7pm. Cemetery Masses are a long-standing tradition in Irish Catholic parishes, held outdoors among the graves rather than in the church, so that families can pray together at the resting places of relatives and neighbours. The Mass is said for all those buried in Turlough Cemetery and is open to anyone with connections to the area, whether or not they still live locally. It typically draws parishioners who return specifically for the occasion, alongside those attending the parish’s Assumption-week devotions the same week. Expect a shorter, simpler liturgy than a normal Sunday Mass, with hymns and prayers of remembrance for the dead woven through the service.

Turlough itself is a small village on the eastern edge of Castlebar, best known today as the home of the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life at Turlough Park, but the cemetery and its adjoining round tower predate that connection by many centuries. The Mass is announced each year through the Castlebar Parish newsletter, alongside notices for the parish’s other August devotions, including the National Novena at Knock and the Feast of the Assumption Masses held the same week across the parish’s three churches.

Good to Know

• Date and time: Friday 14 August 2026 at 7:00pm
• Venue: Turlough Cemetery, Turlough, near Castlebar, Co. Mayo
• Price: Free, open to all
• This is an annual fixture in the Castlebar Parish calendar, usually held around the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August each year
• Bring a coat or umbrella as the Mass is celebrated outdoors, weather permitting
• Parke Cemetery holds its own annual Mass later the same month, on Friday 21 August
• Confirm timing nearer the date with Castlebar Parish Office on 094 902 1844

Getting There

Turlough is a small village roughly 5km east of Castlebar on the N5, close to the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life at Turlough Park. There is roadside and cemetery parking available for the Mass. Castlebar itself is well connected by Bus Eireann and rail from Dublin, Galway and Westport, and visitors flying in can use Ireland West Airport Knock, about 30 minutes away by car.