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Castlebar

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Template:Infobox Irish Place Castlebar (Irish: Caisleán an Bharraigh, meaning 'Castle of the Barry family') 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 15,041 (including rural area).

History

The modern town grew up as a settlement around the de Barry castle in the 11th 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. 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 Irish National Land League was founded at the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar on 21 October 1879.

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 and the The Linenhall Arts Centre exhibits throughout the year. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Castlebar experienced unprecedented growth and investment.

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 football championship victories. 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 hurling 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. 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 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.

People

Castlebar is the birthplace of:

Transport

Twinning

Castlebar is twinned with the town of Höchstadt in Germany.

See also

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References

  1. ^ "Castlebar station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
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