Mayo, Quebec
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Mayo is a tiny village with its residents proud of their Irish heritage and the
faith their forefathers brought with them.

There's a story attached to the shrine. A young man, Gerard Cloonan arrived
to work in Montreal. In less than a week he was killed in a construction
accident. He had no family, no friends; people only knew he was from Ireland.

The Irish community undertook the responsibility for his burial...somehow
this was in Mayo, Quebec. In 1967 pilgrims from Montreal and Ottawa replaced
the wooden cross which marked Gerard Cloonan's gravesite with a marble monument.

In 1990 Gerard's family came to Mayo, Quebec and were able to place a wreath on
the gravesite.

It is said Gerard had been chosen for a special mission:
to unite the immigrant descendants from County Mayo, Ireland

- Mayo is really just a crossroads, with the church, cemetery and a few homes,
northeast of Buckingham -