Irish immigrants to FoD ?. (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, December 05, 2014, 19:29 (3641 days ago) @ Mike Pinchin

Thanks for looking it up Mike. Interesting how the surname Mayo has comeup.

A general question for the forum, if I may. No doubt I should research this meself first and save likely embarrassment, but...

Like MPG I was wondering why Hannah from Cork would settle in Blakeney, I imagine there's not too many Irish descendants there, despite it's access to the sea, Bristol, Cardiff and beyond.

My question is, was Mayo an Irish surname originally ?

Mike's post reminded me of a lad at school name Mayo, not the most obvious FoD surname. However, a quick look at this site's PRs show almost 2000 Mayos, not insignificant, but where did they originate from ?. Was it County Mayo, Ireland ?. Again seems odd as that's about as far west from the Dean as one can get, then again being somewhat remote perhaps this area of Ireland was particularly badly hit during the famines etc ?.

Any thoughts, please ??? (apart from the obvious wrt my sanity)

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LATER UPDATE:

For starters;

the 1881 UK census shows the Mayo surname is most numerous in Gloucestershire !. Sadly that website does not include Ireland..
http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/Map.aspx?name=MAYO&year=1881&altyear=1998&...

PERHAPS the above map hints at the name coming thro the Ports of Bristol and Plymouth, then spreading inland via the GWR ???

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This website states

"County Mayo got its name from the diocese of that name which evolved from a 7th century monastery established by Saint Colmán and some English monks on 'the plain of yews', about 3km. south of Balla. Mayo became a diocese in the 12th century, but it was amalgamated with Tuam. When the county was established around 1570, it was called 'Mayo'after the famous monastery and diocese. The Irish name for Mayo is Maigh Eo , which means 'plain of yew-trees'."

http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/about-mayo/history/short-introduction-of-county-mayo.html

(NB the Coleman name here as well as your post, Mike...)
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Whereas this website suggests a different origin altogether, perhaps because the Irish Mayo is of Gaellic origins, so a different word altogether ?.

"An English and Irish surname, the Mayo family name comes from the Old French term ‘mahieu’ which would mean little Matthew. The spelling variations for Mayo include Mayow, Mayhew, Mayho and Mayhow. A French spelling for Mayo would be Mailhot. In England the earliest Mayo families lived in Cornwall which is in southwest part of the country. From there the Mayo surname spread to most of England. The populations grew in Lancashire, the city of London, Dorset, Herefordshire, Yorkshire and Gloucestershire."

I suspect the spread from Cornwall was due to unemployed tin miners seeking work, plenty came to the Dean.

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So, not sure what if anything this has achieved, hope someone might find this of interest and even relevant !?