Foxford

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Foxford
Béal Easa

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
53°58′60″N 9°07′00″W / 53.9833, -9.1167

Irish grid reference
G268062

Statistics

48 m

Population (2006)

1,058^[1]

Foxford (Irish: Béal Easa, meaning Mouth of the rapids/waterfall) is a small town some 16 km south of Ballina in County Mayo. The town stands on the N26 national primary route from Swinford to Ballina and has a railway station served by trains between Dublin and Ballina.

Situated between the Nephin and Ox Mountains, Foxford lies on the River Moy, a salmon-fishing river, and close to Loughs Conn and Cullin, which have some brown trout fishing.^[2] The Foxford Way is an 86-km waymarked tourist trail that circles Foxford, taking in the Ox Mountains, roads, bogland, archeological sites, lakeshores, and river banks.

Foxford wollen mill

Foxford developed around the eponymous Woollen Mills which have been producing the famous Foxford blankets since 1892.

1 Transport
2 Notable people
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Transport

Foxford railway station opened on 1 May 1868.^[3] In 1963, despite local opposition, it was closed. It reopened in 1988 and is now served by the Ballina-Manulla Junction train. The line is owned by the state company Iarnród Éireann, and was previously owned by the Midland Great Western Railway.

[edit] Notable people

The poet and theatre director F. R. Higgins was born in Foxford.
The town is the birthplace of Admiral William Brown, who helped Gervasio Antonio de Posadas to found the Argentine Navy. Busts of Admiral Brown have also been erected in Foxford and Dublin.