Castlebar

Castlebar Caisleán an Bharraigh
Motto: Ar Aghaidh
Location
Coordinates: 53°51′39″N 9°17′56″W / 53.8608°N 9.29880°W / 53.8608; -9.29880
Irish grid reference M146905
Statistics
Province:	Connacht
County:	County Mayo
Elevation:	49 m
Population (2006)  - Town:  - Environs:	10,655   1,236
Website: www.castlebar.ie

Castlebar (Irish: Caisleán an Bharraigh, meaning "Barry's Castle") is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population, though Ballina is geographically a larger urban area. The towns population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by 1 third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years. A campus of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and the Country Life section of the National Museum of Ireland are two important local amenities. The town is connected by railway to Dublin and the neighbouring Mayo towns of Westport and Ballina. The town has several small satellite villages around it, such as Breaffy. The main route by road is the N5. Its economy is primarily service-based. The population at the 2006 census was 11,891 (including environs).^[2]

History

The Castlebar Races, 1798

The modern town grew up as a settlement around the de Barry castle, which was built by a Norman adventurer in 1235 and was later the site of an English garrison. The castle was located at the end of Castle Street, where the town river is thought to have originally flowed. A military barracks operates in the town to this day; armed conflict has been the centrepiece of the town's historical heritage. French forces under the command of General Humbert aided in a rout of the English garrison in the town during the failed Irish Rebellion of 1798, which was so comprehensive it would later be known as "The Races of Castlebar". A short-lived provisional Republic of Connaught was declared following the victory and John Moore, head of the Mayo United Irishmen and the brother of a local landowner, was declared its president. His remains are today interred in a corner of the town green, known as the Mall, previously the cricket grounds of Lord Lucan, whose family (the Binghams) have owned and still own large tracts of the town and county. The town received its charter from King James I in 1613, and is today governed by an urban district council, a subdivision of Mayo County Council. The Lake in Castlebar is also known as Lough Lannagh.

The Irish National Land League was founded by Michael Davitt, of Straide in County Mayo, at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar on 21 October, 1879. Castlebar expanded rapidly during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s largely as a result of the efforts of influential local politicians such as Padraig Flynn, Enda Kenny and Beverly Flynn.

Coat of Arms

The name of the town comes from the castle built in 1235 (see above). This castle is depicted in the top of the crest, with two yew trees on either side because Castlebar is the county town of Mayo (Maigh Eo - The Plain of the Yew). The crosses represent the parish of Aglish (the official name of the parish of Castlebar). The 1798 'Races of Castlebar' is commemorated with the Pikes in the top left-hand corner. Underneath, the words 'Ar Aghaidh' can be found, which means 'Forward'.

Education

An aerial view of Castlebar.

Primary

• St Patricks De La Salle NS (Boys only)
• St Angelas NS (Girls only)
• Scoil Raifterí (Mixed)
• Snugboro NS (Mixed)
• Breaffy NS (Mixed)
• Derrywash NS (Mixed)

2nd Level

• St. Gerald's College De La Salle (Boys only)
• St Joesephs Convent (Girls only)
• Davitt College (Mixed vocational)

3rd Level

• Galway Mayo Institute of Technology - GMIT
• Mayo VEC

Culture

Linenhall Street looking north towards Bridge Street.

Castlebar is the location for important festivals and traditions, among which is the International Four Days' Walk. A well-established blues music festival in venues across the town takes place on the weekend before the first Monday in June each year. During the 1970s and 1980s the town hosted the International Castlebar Song Contest which was televised nationally on RTE.

The Museum of Country Life is located on the outskirts of Castlebar, and is the only branch of the National Museum of Ireland located outside Dublin.

Castlebar is home to The Linenhall Arts Centre, which exhibits visual art throughout the year, as well as hosting live drama and music performances. The Linenhall also organises an annual children's arts festival (Roola Boola). The Royal Theatre and Event Centre, with a capacity of two thousand two hundred fully seated, four thousand standing^[3], hosts larger-scale productions and popular music concerts.

There are Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland (Anglican), Elim Pentecostal and Spiritualist churches in the town. There is a recently-established Mayo male voice choir and Mayo Orchestra. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Castlebar experienced significant immigration, growth and investment.

Retail

Castlebar is traditionally a market town, and it is still a major destination for shoppers from all over the west of Ireland. It boasts an increasing number of national and international chain stores, and several new shopping areas have been developed in the past 10–12 years on what were considered the outskirts of the town. The modern shopping precinct along Hopkins Road is now the commercial heart of the town, surpassing Main Street. Stores include Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Next and Homebase, as well as smaller names such as McLoughlins Bookshop and Liam Cannons Fruit & Veg.

Castlebar is the second largest retail centre in Connacht, after Galway city. It comes in ahead of Sligo, despite that town's greater population. A survey by consultants Experian showed that €284 million is spent in by shoppers in Castlebar every year. The Irish Retail Centre Rankings show Castlebar is the 12th largest retail centre in the Republic of Ireland in terms of retail spend, and 20th on the island of Ireland overall.^[4]

However, the survey counts many major shopping centres separately from the cities they are situated in. If the spend for several major shopping centres in the Dublin area is included in the Dublin figures, Castlebar becomes the seventh largest retail centre in the Republic, surpassed only by the Republic's five main cities and the town of Tralee.

Social life

Castlebar has a selection of places to eat and drink. There is a broad range of types of food available: Italian (Al Muretto, Portifino Italiano), Indian, Chinese, Irish (An Carraig), Cox's and fast food (Cafollas, Danollas, Blue Thunder, Top Nosh, Supermacs, Dominos Pizza, Blue Thunder, McDonalds and Apache Pizza) as well as cafes (Cafe Rua, Moka and McCarthys).

Pubs and nightlife

A lot of the public houses closed during the building boom during the 1990s. In 1990, Castlebar had 54 licensed premises, although this number had fallen to less than 30 public houses by 2008. Castlebar is a garrison market town; there was a tradition of open air markets mostly selling livestock, which meant there was a healthy daytime drinking trade in Castlebar, but this has disappeared. For a combination of factors since the introduction of the smoking ban and the EU single payment grant to farmers, most public houses offer food to help subsidize the drop in alcohol sales. One of the oldest pubs in Castlebar is John McHale's pub, located on New Line. The pub is known for its sale of a Meejum of Guinness, which is slightly less than a pint. It once officially had 'the best pint of Guinness in Ireland' according to a national tabloid.

Sport

Ellison Street, looking south towards Christ's Church and Church Street.

GAA

The local Gaelic football and hurling team is the Castlebar Mitchels club; a club with a proud and illustrious past, including 27 Mayo senior football championships and one Mayo senior hurling championship titles. Castlebar Mitchels are second only to Ballina Stephenites in terms of championships won.^{[5][citation needed]} After a couple of years in the doldrums, the club regained its place amongst Mayo's elite senior football clubs in 2005. The club boasts a very strong youth football structure. McHale Park in Castlebar is one of the major Gaelic Athletic Association grounds in Connacht, with a capacity of 41,000. The Mayo County board has recently built a new stand with dressing rooms and offices underneath and will build fifteen extra rows of seating to the 'Albany' end sometime in the near future. They have also built a new modern press area and tv stand on the Mchale Road side. Other nearby GAA clubs include Breaffy GAA, Parke GAA and Ballyvary Hurling Club.

Soccer

The local soccer team is Castlebar Celtic, who currently have a team playing in the Mayo Super League as well as a team in the League of Ireland A Championship and the League of Ireland Under 20 League. In addition to this, they have a thriving youth structure in place. They play their home games in Celtic Park. Castlebar Celtic have a long and colourful history: in 2006, they reached the FAI Cup 2nd round. They faced Shamrock Rovers in Celtic Park and held them for 70 minutes, although the game finished 2-0 to Rovers. In 2007, captained by James Minogue, Celtic won the FAI Youth Cup, which is regarded by many as the greatest achievement in the club's history. Other local soccer teams include Snugboro United, who have their home at Conway Park just on the outskirts of the town and the junior soccer team, Ballyvary Blue Bombers.

Rugby

Castlebar RFC, a vibrant Rugby-Union club founded in the 1970s is located at Cloondeash, on the outskirts of the town. There are several pitches and a club house onsite, and the club actively participates in provincial (Connaught Junior League Div.1) and national league competitions. Castlebar are the current Cawley Cup Champions (2009). The Club plays in a navy and light blue strip.

Other Sports

There is an 18-hole golf club in the town, as well as active basketball, tennis and other clubs. The council provides an indoor heated swimming pool and there are numerous gyms.

People

• Ulick Bourke, scholar, founder of Gaelic Union
• Louis Brennan, inventor
• Margaret Burke-Sheridan, opera singer
• Enda Kenny, Leader of Fine Gael
• Pádraig Flynn, former Government Minister and European Commissioner
• Charles Haughey, former Taoiseach
• Archbishop John McHale, Archbishop of Tuam, Irish independence leader
• Ernie O'Malley (1897 – 1957), prominent officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and on the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War; also a writer

Transport

Road: Castlebar is a served by the N5 (Westport-Dublin road) National primary road and the N60 and N84 national secondary roads. In 1990 the N5 relief road was built around Castlebar removing through traffic from the main street. This road is a basic 2 lane road with no hard shoulders, and as of 2009 suffers from chronic congestion, particularly in the summer months when thousands of tourists have to negotiate the bottleneck on route to neighbouring Westport and Achill. A bypass of Castlebar which consists of dual-carriageway standard is awaiting funding.

• Castlebar railway station opened on 17 December 1862.^[6]

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Castlebar is twinned with the following towns and cities around the world:

• Höchstadt, Germany
• Peekskill, United States
• Auray, France
• Ballymena, Northern Ireland
• Ancona, Italy

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Museum of Country Life, Castlebar, County Mayo

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Castlebar

• Official Castlebar website
• Mayo Echo (published online)
• Castlebar Celtic official website
• Castlebar RFC official website

Coordinates: 53°51′39″N 9°17′56″W / 53.8608°N 9.2988°W / 53.8608; -9.2988