Foxford
| Foxford Béal Easa
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| — Village — | |
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 Foxford
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| Coordinates: 53°58′52″N 9°06′50″W / 53.981°N 9.114°WCoordinates: 53°58′52″N 9°06′50″W / 53.981°N 9.114°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Mayo |
| Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Population (2006)[1][2] | |
| • Total | 1,058 |
| Irish Grid Reference | G265040 |
Foxford, historically called Bellasa (Irish: Béal Easa, meaning "mouth of the waterfall"), is a small town 16 km south of Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. The village 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.[3] 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 developed around the eponymous Woollen Mills which have been producing the famous Foxford blankets since 1892.
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[edit] Transport
- Foxford railway station opened on 1 May 1868.[4] 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.
The busy N26 road passes through the town, the narrow bridge over the River Moy is a bottleneck. Over 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge everyday, on route to Ballina and north Mayo. It is proposed to bypass the village by dual-carriageway when the proposed Ballina to Bohola road commences construction. However, this major piece of infrastructure is now on hold due to government cutbacks in public spending, despite several million euro of preparation work and compulsory purchase orders.
[edit] Notable people
- The poet and theatre director F. R. Higgins was born in Foxford.
- The village is the birthplace of Admiral William Brown, father of the Argentine Navy, hero of the Argentine War of Independence, and defender of Buenos Aires during the Argentina-Brazil War. Statues and monuments to him are found throughout Argentina, and his name is honoured with several streets, squares, towns, and associations. Busts of Admiral Brown have also been erected in Foxford and Dublin.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/census2006_volume_1_pop_classified_by_area.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
- ^ "Population". Mayo-Ireland - Foxford. http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/Mayo/Towns/FxFrd/Fxfrd.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
- ^ Ireland Boat Fishing Lough Conn and Lough Cullin. Ireland Trout fly boat fishing guided fishing trips and vacations
- ^ "Foxford station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
