Castlebar

in County Mayo in the West of Ireland

Mayo is the 3rd largest county in Ireland and Castlebar (gaelic Caisleán an Bharraigh) is the county town and also the administrative seat for the county. It is a busy bustling Market Town and is one of the fastest growing towns in the country. Castlebar was originally a garrison town and derives its name from a settlement around the de Barra Castle in the 11th century. A town steeped in history with one of the oldest buildings being Christchurch whose foundation stones were laid in 1739. Since then it has featured in the battles of 1798 and has been the birthplace of many a famous son.

Present day Castlebar is a town with a good infrastructure and with businesses covering a vast spectrum of products and services. The County Library is in Castlebar and we have excellent educational facilities at every level and the Arts, Sports and Leisure are also well catered for with numerous facilities, exhibitions, competitions and festivals which include the world famous International Four Days Walks. We also have great accommodation facilities including B&B's, hotels and hostels.

Most importantly of all is that we pride ourselves in the Welcome we give to all our visitors whether here on business, visiting relatives or just here on holidays.

Population from Census

Access

The town is well serviced with good roads including the N5 to the East and North and the N60 to the South.

Iarnrod Eireann provide thrice daily railway services both to and from Dublin. We are also linked by regular Bus services to every part of the country.

There is a privately owned airstrip within 1Km of the town and we are only 32km from Knock International Airport.

Tourism

Castlebar has numerous attractions for the visitor. It has received international recognition for both walking and angling. It is also centrally located for the touring of the county including Ballintuber Abbey, The Ceide Fields, Croagh Patrick, Foxford Woollen Mills, Moore Hall, Pontoon and the Turlough Round Tower. Annual festivals include the International Four Days Walks, The Blues Festival and The Heritage Day. The range of facilities in Castlebar include, swimming, bowling, golf, pubs, cafes, horse riding tennis and many many more.

Industry

Castlebar is well positioned to attract new industry to the town. At present we have approximately 50 manufacturing industries in Castlebar and among the reasons these are attracted to the town are:

• A plentiful supply of high quality water
• All support services
• Third level education
• Clean environment
• Availability of local workers

Arts, Sports and Leisure

Castlebar has a vibrant arts community with amateur drama groups, pantomime groups, choral societies, dancing schools, exhibition centres and display outlets. There are currently very good sports facilities in the town both for outdoor and indoor use. There are also many natural amenities in the area suited to outdoor recreation.

Education

Castlebar is now a centre in educational excellence with modern pre-schools, primary, secondary and third level educational facilities. There are also numerous courses and facilities and available for the adults wishing to get back into educational both full-time and part-time.

Summer Heritage Tours

According to many tourists and travellers the best and most exciting way of getting to know any town is to walk around it. The usual guided historical walking tours of the towns of Castlebar and Newport continue throughout the months of July and August.

Brian Hoban, who has been giving informative and enjoyable tours of his native area for the last six years, is an approved Tourist Guide and local historian. Brian is recognised as a heritage specialist by the Irish Heritage Council and works with "The Heritage in Schools Scheme"- run jointly by the Irish Heritage Council & the I.N.T.O.

Why not join Brian as he makes history come alive in his unique and informative tours?

The Historical Stroll of the town of Castlebar starts from The Imperial Hotel each Tuesday & Thursday at 7p.m, while the Newport tour starts from Hotel Newport each Friday at 7p.m.

Tours are leisurely and suitable for all ages. Tours take approx 90 minutes and costs 5 euro (U-12 free accompanied by adult). No reservation is required. Group discounts for 10 or more persons.

The Blues Festival

This well established music festival is held each year over the June Bank Holiday Weekend. It boasts an excellent line up of Irish and international musicians and draws a big crowd from all over the country and from overseas.

Gigs are free of charge and take place throughout the night so just about everybody gets involved! Its a great chance to let tour hair down, enjoy some fantastic music and meet new friends. The weekend culminates in The Blues Ball at The Travellers Friend Hotel and Theatre.

For further information e-mail castlebarblues@anu.ie

Celebration Of The Senses

This amazing festival celebrates the five senses - sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. the pleasures brought by our senses are indeed something to celebrate and the October Bank Holiday Weekend in Castlebar is the time to do it.

Each of the senses will be stimulated with the mediums of dance, music, film, art and food - coming from many different countries and cultures.

Events run from October 28th - 30th.

e-mail:visual@iol.ie

International Four Day Walks

A wonderful walking festival with a truly international frlavour takes place in July each year. The festival was established in 1967 to encourage people to leave the stress of town life behind for a few days in order to walk and rediscover the bogs, rivers, mountains and unspoilt beauty of the West of Ireland.

The walks are non-competitive, and are geared to suit people of all varying levels of fitness. If you cannot spare four days you have the option of joining in for one, two or three days of walking.

There is a great camaraderie amongst the walkers who come in all shapes and sizes from every corner of the world and turn Castlebar into an international carnival.

The festival is a founding member of the International Walking League but the walks are open to everyone.

This year's festival (2002) will take place from July 4-7. For further information contact:
Elaine Deveraux
Castlebar 4 Day International Walks Office
New Antrim St
Castlebar
Co Mayo

Mayo Leisure Point is Ireland's largest indoor entertainment park, consisting of Bowling, Go-Karting, Bar, Cinema, Leisure Club, Kachina natural Spa, Q-2000, Children's Adventureland, Snooker, Pool, American Pool, Video Games and Snack Bar.

Mayo Leisure Point
Moneen,
Castlebar,
Co. Mayo.
094 9025473

My Own Place is a historical tour of the town. Local historian and Castlebar native Brian Hoban will make local history come alive during the course of the walk which will last for one and a half hours and takes place each Monday to Friday during July and August at 7p.m

The tour, which has been thoroughly researched by him over the past year, starts and ends at the Humbert Inn. In between is a paced, twelve-stop walk, which touches on almost all aspects of the history of Castlebar and its most famous sons and daughters.

From the De Burgo Castle, the foundation of the town, through the story of 1798 and The Races of Castlebar, John Moores grave, and on to the Wesleyan church, Michael Davitts founding of the Land League and the Linenhall and its colourful connection with the past.

And there are stories to be told of Ernie O Malley, Margaret Burke Sheridan, Louis Brennan, Lord Lucan, Lady Diana Spencer, and the late great dance band leader Stephen Garvey.

The tour takes place each each Monday to Friday during July and August at 7p.m. or by appointment with Brian Hoban at:

Tel - 353 (0) 94 902 1738

bhoban81@hotmail.com

The town park, known as The Mall, was once the cricket pitch of Lord Lucan and his family. It is the heart of Castlebar where the Courthouse and County Council offices are located.

It got its name from the double line of trees running from the Holy Trinity Church of Ireland to the Lucan homestead known as The Lawn. It was donated to the people of the town in 1888 by the 4th Earl of Lucan. The present trees surrounding this fine park were planted around 1870.

The Neo-Romanesque style Old Methodist Church is one of the oldest buildings in the town, the foundation stone was blessed by John Wesley in 1785.

The towns strong connections with the 1798 Rising are commemorated by the Monument on The Mall, erected on the 150th anniversary of the event. John Moore who was appointed first President of Connacht on August 31, 1798 is buried next to the monument. He held the title for just a single week after which he was captured by the British and imprisoned. He died shortly afterwards and was buried in Waterford. In 1961 his remains were exhumed and reinterred in The Mall.

Turlough Park House is home to the National Museum of Ireland's Folklife Collection. It is the only branch of the National Museum outside of the capital and it complements the other three sites at Kildare Street, Merrion Street and Collins Barracks in Dublin, which each house different aspects of the national collections.

Careful renovations of the 18th century house, revival of the elaborate formal gardens and the artificial lake or Turlough and the creation of complimentary buildings have created a unique destination for visitors.

Designed by the distinguished Irish architect, Thomas Newenham Deane, in the High Victorian style, the house was built in 1865 and the park is the site of the first De Burgo Castle. It was subsequently home to the Fitzgerald family, whose estate ran to over 3,000 acres in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The folklife collection comprises a wide range of artefacts dealing with agriculture, fishing and hunting, clothing and textiles, architecture, furniture, fittings, trades and crafts, transport, sports and leisure and religion. In total the collection numbers some 50,000 objects and serves to provide an understanding of the social history of Ireland over the past 200 years.

Adjacent to the house the newly created exhibition galleries will portray the lives of ordinary people in rural Ireland, emphasising the continuity of traditions of lifestyles, which were established for several hundreds of years and lasted well into the twentieth century. The story will be told under three headings:

Romanticism and Reality

Incorporating sections dealing with Folklife and Folklore and how the collection of the Museum began.

The Times

Will put the main exhibition into a historical context with emphasis on the periods immediately after the Famine, the Land war, Land League and Home Rule agitation of the late nineteenth century and the resolution of the land question in post independent Ireland.

The Natural Environment

Will look at the way of life in rural Ireland and how it was influenced by landscape and resources.

The Museum will provide a range of amenities on site from extensive parking, indoor and outdoor seating, a speciality café and an exclusive retail operation selling both museum branded products and Irish design and hand-crafted products. A dedicated educational facility is also planned to enhance the experience of the collections for visitors.

The new museum facility is an important link in the necklace of impressive tourist attractions stretching along the West Coast through Galway as far as the Ceide Fields near Ballycastle and no visit to the West would be complete without a visit to Turlough Park.

Admission

Admission to the National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park is free and the museum is open all year round during the following hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 10am to 5pm
Sunday- 2pm to 5pm
Closed Mondays

How to get there

From Castlebar follow the signs for Swinford on the N5 and turn off for Turlough, 3 miles outside the town.

For additional information:BR> Telephone lo-call 1890 687 386 or 353 (0) 1 648399
Fax 01 6777450
E-mail: tpark@museum.ie

Bernie and Noel canavan
Knockmore,
Ballina
Co.Mayo
Tel:(094)9258240
Fax:(094)9258240

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