Happy Mayo Day! Read President Biden's letter to Mayo people everywhere

Mayo Day is a celebration of Mayo people in Ireland and around the world.

Ahead of Mayo Day, which returns to in-person celebrations this year,  US President Joe Biden, who can trace some of his Irish roots back to Co Mayo, penned a warm letter to the people who call Co Mayo home.

President of the United States, Joe Biden has penned a letter with a message to Mayo people around the globe for Mayo Day 2022https://t.co/hvZINWQWLj#MayoDay #HomeToMayo pic.twitter.com/2U3VLXiS5Z

— Mayo.ie (@MayoDotIE) April 29, 2022

President Joe Biden's letter for Mayo Day:

Céad míle fáilte to all those celebrating Mayo Day.

The places we’re from and the places that shape us, climb into our hearts, and never leave us. My great-grandfather Edward Francis Blewitt traced his roots to Ballina in County Mayo, from where his family boarded a ship 165 years ago, bound for the promise of America. He instilled in his family - including my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden - a deep overwhelming pride in his heritage. It is a pride I carry with me to this day and a pride that I know I share with the many people of County Mayo.

On Mayo Day, we celebrate our beloved County Mayo. Whether it is the land of our ancestors or our newly chosen home, County Mayo offers its family much to take pride in. From the cliffs of Downpatrick Head in the Wild Atlantic to the view of Clew Bay atop the Croagh Patrick, the beauty of County Mayo is only rivaled by the generosity and goodness of its people - a goodness I felt when I visited a few years ago and reconnected with my Irish family. The heart and spirit from Castlebar to Westport to Crossmolina and all the towns in between make us who we are. And they are a reminder that we are all connected by where we call home.

Being Irish - as my mother always told me - is about family, faith, and the conviction that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. As we celebrate Mayo Day, may we continue to take pride in all the ways that County Mayo has shaped us.

Joe Biden

June 22, 2016: Then Vice President of the United States Joe Biden meeting local residents in Ballina, Co. Mayo. (RollingNews.ie)

What is Mayo Day?

The Mayo Day initiative, now in its eighth year, has grown from strength to strength, and this year, the celebrations are returning with a physical festival on April 30 following the restrictions of the previous years.

The ‘Home to Where the Heart is’ festival will see Castlebar, the County Town of Mayo, transformed into a hive of Mayo Day celebration and artistic wonderment with something for all the family and for all age groups.

"Mayo Day is a celebration of the 'Spirit of Mayo’ in communities worldwide, an acknowledgement of all that is great about our county and its people, a day in the year that Mayo people can claim for themselves," Cllr Michael Smyth, the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said welcoming the 2022 Mayo Day festival.

"This flagship festival event is a fitting way to celebrate our achievements and success by showcasing the finest of art, craft, design, food, music, sport, and more.

"After what has been a difficult two years, I invite families across the county, country and further afield, to enjoy what will be a superb event in Castlebar for Mayo Day 2022”.