McHale Road, County Mayo

'Official' McHale
Family Research

In 1996, the Irish Government
and church parishes organized a chain of local family history centres.

For a fee, your McHale origins, and more, can be found from official records by:

http://mayo.
irishroots.net
/mayo.htm

The Mayo North Family History Centre is based at Enniscrone, Castlehill, Ballina, Mayo.

Similarly, at Mayo South Family History Centre, Ballinrode, genealogists can research Mayo, but the McHale name prevailed slightly more in the county north.

McHalesTake Sides

During the U.S. Civil War, 81 McHale men fought -
13 South, 68 North.

(article conclusion, 3rd part of 4)

county region. Ulster remains loyal to the United Kingdom. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom until 1922.

Clustered in and near rural Mayo, McHales christened their many offspring by a long-standing Irish custom. That is, the first-born-son's name honored the paternal McHale grandfather, the second, the maternal grandfather. A like formula applied to daughters and grandmothers.

A celebrated son of Mayo was Pvt Patrick McHale (1826-1866). He was awarded the British Army's highest honor, the Victoria Cross, for bravery in India in 1857.

Suddenly in August 1845, a fungus disease doomed Ireland's potato vines. People in Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Galway, and other western counties faced a historic crisis: they chose to suffer severe famine or took massive flight.

The ensuing seven-year hardship about halved the Emerald Isle population, reducing it from 8 to 4 million. County Mayo, almost entirely potato-dependent, counted more than 100,000 deaths.

McHales who could afford the passage of months sailed to the remote shores of the few other

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McHale Road

You're a McHale, and you reside on McHale Road. Neat, huh?

Well, there is a McHale Road in Castlebar, the second city of Mayo.

Families have dwelled there since the 1930's,

Business is brisk nearby in McHale Retail Park, on Station Road. Irish athletes compete regularly in soccer and gaelic football at McHale Park.

In McHale Road's early days, most homes sent at least one employee daily to the nearby bacon factory.