Castlebar

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Castlebar
Caisleán an Bharraigh

Ar Aghaidh

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53°51′39″N 9°17′56″W / 53.8608, -9.2988

Irish grid reference
M146905

Statistics

49 m

Population (2006)
- Town:
- Environs:

10,665
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, Ireland. 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).

1 History
2 Culture
3 Sport
4 People
5 Transport
6 Twinning
7 Web Site
8 See also
9 External links
10 References

[edit] History

The modern town grew up as a settlement around the de Barry castle in the 12th century and was later the site of an English garrison. 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. This was so comprehensive that it would be known as "The Races of Castlebar". A shortlived 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 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 Co. Mayo, at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar on 21 October 1879.

[edit] Culture

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.

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 a children's arts festival (Roola Boola) annually. The Royal Theatre, with a capacity of two thousand^[1], hosts larger-scale productions and popular music concerts.

There are Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland (Anglican) and Elim Pentecostal churches in the town. There is a recently established Mayo male voice choir, and Mayo Orchestra. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Castlebar experienced unprecedented immigration, growth and investment, the town more than doubling in size at the expense of the rest of the county.

Castlebar on a wet day in March, 2008.

[edit] Sport

The local Gaelic football and hurling team is the Castlebar Mitchels club. They are a club with a proud and illustrious past including two Mayo senior football championship and one Mayo senior hurling championship titles. 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 underage football structure.McHale Park located in Castlebar is one of the major Gaelic Athletic Association grounds in Connacht with a capacity of 36,000. The Mayo County board has recently submitted a planning application to increase the capacity to 41,000, which includes a whole new stand to replace the existing one (with dressing rooms and offices underneath) and adding fifteen extra rows of seat to the 'Albany' end. Further development will also lead to the knocking of the press area on the McHale road side and replacing it with a modern press area and TV stand. Other nearby GAA clubs include Breaffy GAA, Parke GAA and Ballyvary Hurling Club.

The local soccer team is Castlebar Celtic. They currently have a team playing in the Mayo Super League. In addition to this they have a thriving underage structure in place. They compete in the Ulster/Connacht section of the Eircom U-21 League of Ireland. They play their home games in Celtic Park. Other local soccer teams include Snugboro United FC who have their home at Conway Park just on the outskirts of the town and the junior soccer team, Ballyvary Blue Bombers.

There is a Rugby Union club, with pitch and clubrooms near the town, with active participation in provincial and national leagues.

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

[edit] People

Castlebar is the birthplace of:

Ulick Bourke, scholar, founder of Gaelic Union
Louis Brennan, inventor
Margaret Burke-Sheridan, opera singer
Pádraig Flynn, former Government Minster and European Commissioner
Charles Haughey, former Taoiseach
Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael
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 anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War and a writer.

[edit] Transport

Castlebar railway station opened on 17 December 1862.^[2]

[edit] Twinning

Castlebar is twinned with the town of Höchstadt in Germany and Peekskill, New York.

[edit] Web Site

The Web Site for the region can be found at www.castlebar.ie

As of 3rd June 2008 the Web site is shut down due to a threat of legal action by Tony Geraghty, editor of the local free paper Mayo Echo following comments posted (and subsequently removed at Mr Geraghty's request) following a controversial article printed in the paper.

Since publication of the original article, the debate has moved onto national radio, and groups have been formed on Facebook and Myspace in support of the Web site. There is also a campaign site with a link to a petition.