Belmullet
Encyclopedia
Belmullet is a coastal Gaeltacht
town
with a population of around 2,000 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony
of Erris
, County Mayo
, Ireland
. Its name means the "mouth of the mullet". It is the commercial and cultural centre for the barony of Erris
, which has a population of almost 10,000 people.
Belmullet has two bays, Blacksod Bay
and Broadhaven Bay
, joined by Carter's canal
running through the town.
which concerned the ancient forts at Rathmorgan overlooking Carrowmore Lake
and Dún Domhnall at Glencastle
on the road leading to Belmullet.
chased pirates into Broadhaven Bay
, hauled his boats across the isthmus
and caught up with them near the Iniskea Islands
. To drain the area and form a passageway from Blacksod Bay
into Broadhaven Bay
, Shaen had a canal excavated, known thereafter as Shaen's Cut, large enough for small boats to pass through from one bay to the other. However, little 'development of the town occurred and by 1752 the canal was choked up and impassable. In the early 19th century Belmullet consisted of little more than a few thatched buildings.
in Erris
opened in the new town of Belmullet. Arthur Rose was the post master. According to Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Belmullet 'owes it origin to the establishment of the headquarters of the commander of the coastguard here in 1822'. William Henry Carter had inherited huge tracts of Shaen's land in Erris
when he married his daughter and he began to put plans in place to develop the town. He employed Patrick Knight, Engineer to plan the town. A new road was built which connected Belmullet with Castlebar
and it was finished in 1824. Carriages could now travel into the area. Work started on the building and in two years there was a large hotel the 'Erris Hotel' in the town.
In 1822 a coastguard station was built. In 1825 William Henry Carter, a local landlord
and architect
, decided to establish his own settlement and a new pier, large enough to accommodate vessels of 100 tons was built by the Fishery Board and Carter in 1826. W.H. Carter's stated objective was to "create a home market for produce that did not previously exist nearer than thirty miles by land" and his aim was to thrust the older village of An Geata Mór (Binghamstown)
, a village founded by the powerful Bingham family on the Mullet peninsula into a secondary position. In 1829, Alexander Nimmo, an engineer
on the Erris roads, wrote the following 'at Belmullet, the advance is quite surprising; the place only commenced four years ago; it now consists of about seventy respectable houses etc... five ships were loaded with grain
and kept; iron hoops and coal
were imported; spirits
, beer
and wine
. British
manufacturers and tea and sugar
were sold; the produce of the fisheries were admitted to a market'. In 1830 a dispensary
was built with Dr. Matthew Bournes installed as the first doctor in Belmullet. By 1831 the population of Belmullet was 585 people. A Catholic
chapel
was built in 1832 at the cost of £300. There was a daily postal service between Ballina
and Belmullet. In 1833 a courthouse
was built also costing £300 which held weekly court sessions, demonstrating that the town was rapidly growing.
In the 1830s a visitor to the new town of Belmullet described it as 'the youngest town in Ireland and like all young things it is comparatively fresh and fair. The town itself contains a few thatched cabins
but consists of small streets of moderately sized slated houses branching from a little square, or market place
; the shops looked to be well furnished with not only necessaries but articles conducive to comfort and convenience. Buildings are going on and speculation is progressing'. He also commented that the approach to the town was 'spoiled by deformed, wretched bog
huts'. Two new roads were built - one to the east went to Ballycastle
and one to the south to Newport
. The export of meal from the area to England started. The Protestant Church was built in 1843.
In 1845 work began to re-open the canal which had been made first by Arthur Shaen. Because of the Famine
, the canal was not completed until 1851. During the Relief work for the Distress (in the middle of the Great Famine) in 1846 and 1847, the footpaths were formed and flagged Another development during the 1840s was the development of a fishing
station to exploit the coast's natural resources. It was opened in 1847 to wash and cure fish. Boats were built there too. The station was forced to close due to local fishermen who were imprisoned for the theft
of flour from a passing ship. Many people in Belmullet starved to death while soldiers guarded tons of meal, most of it lined up to be sold to England
.
A workhouse
was erected on the site of the current hospital
. The Head of the Treasury
, Charles Trevelyan
, notoriously decreed that relief was only to be given to workhouse people. Starving people crowded to the workhouse. At one stage at the height of the Famine, 3,000 people were recorded as being in Belmullet workhouse.
Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many proposals were made regarding the development of a railway line in to Belmullet and the Erris
region. Three routes were surveyed and discussed:
People along these routes lobbied for the railway lines to pass through their district. However the merchants of Belmullet were more sceptical, and feared that the introduction of a railway line would adversely affect their trading position, putting Ballina within easy reach of the population. Plans for a railway to Blacksod, which would have served trans-Atlantic shipping , were therefore postponed.
Many still pressed the authorities for a rail line, and this movement gained momentum during the latter days of the First World War, when it was proposed that a line would improve lines of communication between both London
and Canada
, and London and the USA. However, when the war ended in 1918, the hopes for a railway service to Blacksod
ended with it.
Belmullet was the scene of Monster meetings of the Land League at the end of the 19th century.
author of "The Playboy of the Western World
" and The Aran Islands, visited Belmullet in 1904, and reported: Belmullet in the evening is noisy and squalid, lonely and crowded at the same time and without appeal to the imagination. So at least one stays for a moment. When one has passed six times up and down hearing a gramophone in one house, a fiddle in the next, then an accordion and a fragment of a traditional lullaby, with many crying babies, pigs and donkeys and noisy girls and young men jostling in the darkness, the effect is not indistinct. All the light comes from doors or windows of shops. Last night was St. John’s Eve and bonfires were lighted all over the country, the largest of all being placed at the Town Square at Belmullet. Today, again, there was a large market in the square, where a number of country people, with their horses and donkeys, stood about bargaining for young pigs, heather brooms, homespun flannels, second hand clothing, blackening brushes, tinker’s goods and many other articles.http://towns.mayo-ireland.ie/
On August 6, 1940, during the Second World War, Garda William Cullen of Belmullet station received a phone call from coastwatchers at the nearby Annagh Head lookout post. He learned that the Atlantic currents had washed ashore the body of a British soldier. From his army pay-book, Cullen identified 21-year-old Donald Domican of the 5th Battalion, the Welsh Regiment. On the evening of August 6, Domican’s body was brought to Belmullet hospital. He was buried the following day at the Church of Ireland cemetery in the town. The next day another body of a British soldier was washed up at the same site.
Belmullet established a monthly cattle fair, and the town began to take trade from An Geatta Mór. The Bingham family fought back but their village was more or less deserted by the cattle traders by the late 19th century.
The area around Belmullet was severely impacted by the Great Irish Famine in the 19th century and in the next 100 years many people emigrated from the area to the United States and to England.
In recent years, improvement in the Irish economy has reversed population decline and Belmullet has seen some immigration. Despite many job losses in the area since the recession started in 2007, as with all over Ireland, Belmullet and the Mullet Peninsula has good natural resources in terms of fishing, tourism, wonderful location, unspoilt landscape and renewable energy resources (wind, hydro and ocean energy) and related industries are all bringing continued signs of improvement for the area.
Although officially part of the Mayo Gaeltacht
, it is both an English
- and Irish speaking town. The area plays host in summer months to students enrolled in local Irish language
summer schools.
John Millington Synge
's play The Playboy of the Western World
was based on his experience of the Belmullet area. Synge also wrote a poem entitled "Danny" about a character who was murdered by a group of local men as he was on his way back into Belmullet from Bangor Erris
.
The area is popular for fishing, with both fresh-water and sea-angling off Broadhaven Bay
. Watersports are also common, with surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing.
This area of Erris was the setting for the Ulster Cycle legend of the Táin Bó Flidhais
or the Mayo Táin.
In 2007, a new arts centre, Aras Inis Gluaire, opened in the town. Its mission was to become a leading bilingual arts centre in Ireland. As well as serving as the towns library
and art gallery
, the centre has a state of the art theatre, which has seen many accomplished artists perform in the town, among them being Mick Flannery
and Damien Dempsey
.
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
with a population of around 2,000 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony
Barony (Ireland)
In Ireland, a barony is a historical subdivision of a county. They were created, like the counties, in the centuries after the Norman invasion, and were analogous to the hundreds into which the counties of England were divided. In early use they were also called cantreds...
of Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Its name means the "mouth of the mullet". It is the commercial and cultural centre for the barony of Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
, which has a population of almost 10,000 people.
Belmullet has two bays, Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland. The bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula and to its eastern side by the coastline of Kiltane Parish where it extends southwards from Belmullet towards Gweesalia and Doohoma...
and Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...
, joined by Carter's canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
running through the town.
1st century AD approx
This was the time of the legend of the Táin Bó FlidhaisTáin Bó Flidhais
Táin Bó Flidhais, also known as the Mayo Táin, is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is Táin Bó Cúailnge...
which concerned the ancient forts at Rathmorgan overlooking Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore Lake is situated in the parishes of Kiltane and Kilcommon Erris, County Mayo between the villages of Bangor Erris and Barnatra at the southern end of Broadhaven Bay. The freshwater lake is over four miles long and almost 3 miles wide at its widest point...
and Dún Domhnall at Glencastle
Glencastle
Glencastle is a village of about 30 people in the northwest of County Mayo, Ireland. The townland incorporates an area of . The Irish language is still dominant there.- Topography :...
on the road leading to Belmullet.
18th century
About 1715, according to Pocock, writing on his grand tour, Sir Arthur Shaen 'began building a little town' where Belmullet now stands. The area must have been very wet and marshy at the time because during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, an AdmiralAdmiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
chased pirates into Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...
, hauled his boats across the isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
and caught up with them near the Iniskea Islands
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
. To drain the area and form a passageway from Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland. The bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula and to its eastern side by the coastline of Kiltane Parish where it extends southwards from Belmullet towards Gweesalia and Doohoma...
into Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...
, Shaen had a canal excavated, known thereafter as Shaen's Cut, large enough for small boats to pass through from one bay to the other. However, little 'development of the town occurred and by 1752 the canal was choked up and impassable. In the early 19th century Belmullet consisted of little more than a few thatched buildings.
19th century
In 1820 the first post officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
in Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
opened in the new town of Belmullet. Arthur Rose was the post master. According to Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Belmullet 'owes it origin to the establishment of the headquarters of the commander of the coastguard here in 1822'. William Henry Carter had inherited huge tracts of Shaen's land in Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
when he married his daughter and he began to put plans in place to develop the town. He employed Patrick Knight, Engineer to plan the town. A new road was built which connected Belmullet with Castlebar
Castlebar
Castlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population. The town's population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by one-third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years...
and it was finished in 1824. Carriages could now travel into the area. Work started on the building and in two years there was a large hotel the 'Erris Hotel' in the town.
In 1822 a coastguard station was built. In 1825 William Henry Carter, a local landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
and architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, decided to establish his own settlement and a new pier, large enough to accommodate vessels of 100 tons was built by the Fishery Board and Carter in 1826. W.H. Carter's stated objective was to "create a home market for produce that did not previously exist nearer than thirty miles by land" and his aim was to thrust the older village of An Geata Mór (Binghamstown)
Binghamstown
Binghamstown is a townland and village in County Mayo, Ireland. It lies on the R313 regional road on the Mullet Peninsula, near the town of Belmullet.-History:...
, a village founded by the powerful Bingham family on the Mullet peninsula into a secondary position. In 1829, Alexander Nimmo, an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
on the Erris roads, wrote the following 'at Belmullet, the advance is quite surprising; the place only commenced four years ago; it now consists of about seventy respectable houses etc... five ships were loaded with grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
and kept; iron hoops and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
were imported; spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
manufacturers and tea and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
were sold; the produce of the fisheries were admitted to a market'. In 1830 a dispensary
Dispensary
A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital or other organization that dispenses medications and medical supplies. In a traditional dispensary set-up a pharmacist dispenses medication as per prescription or order form....
was built with Dr. Matthew Bournes installed as the first doctor in Belmullet. By 1831 the population of Belmullet was 585 people. A Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
was built in 1832 at the cost of £300. There was a daily postal service between Ballina
Ballina, County Mayo
Ballina is a large town in north County Mayo in Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountain range to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west...
and Belmullet. In 1833 a courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
was built also costing £300 which held weekly court sessions, demonstrating that the town was rapidly growing.
In the 1830s a visitor to the new town of Belmullet described it as 'the youngest town in Ireland and like all young things it is comparatively fresh and fair. The town itself contains a few thatched cabins
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
but consists of small streets of moderately sized slated houses branching from a little square, or market place
Market Place
Market Place is the financial programme broadcast Monday to Friday at 10:30pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl....
; the shops looked to be well furnished with not only necessaries but articles conducive to comfort and convenience. Buildings are going on and speculation is progressing'. He also commented that the approach to the town was 'spoiled by deformed, wretched bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
huts'. Two new roads were built - one to the east went to Ballycastle
Ballycastle, County Mayo
Ballycastle is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, situated northwest from Ballina, near Mayo's north coast in the West of Ireland. Ballycastle is also on the edge of an Irish speaking area called a Gaeltacht....
and one to the south to Newport
Newport, County Mayo
Newport, historically known as Ballyveaghan , is a small picturesque town in the Barony of Burrishoole County Mayo, Ireland with a population of 590 in 2006. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along the shore of Clew Bay, north of Westport. The N59 road passes through the town. The...
. The export of meal from the area to England started. The Protestant Church was built in 1843.
In 1845 work began to re-open the canal which had been made first by Arthur Shaen. Because of the Famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
, the canal was not completed until 1851. During the Relief work for the Distress (in the middle of the Great Famine) in 1846 and 1847, the footpaths were formed and flagged Another development during the 1840s was the development of a fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
station to exploit the coast's natural resources. It was opened in 1847 to wash and cure fish. Boats were built there too. The station was forced to close due to local fishermen who were imprisoned for the theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
of flour from a passing ship. Many people in Belmullet starved to death while soldiers guarded tons of meal, most of it lined up to be sold to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
A workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
was erected on the site of the current hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
. The Head of the Treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
, Charles Trevelyan
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments...
, notoriously decreed that relief was only to be given to workhouse people. Starving people crowded to the workhouse. At one stage at the height of the Famine, 3,000 people were recorded as being in Belmullet workhouse.
Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many proposals were made regarding the development of a railway line in to Belmullet and the Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
region. Three routes were surveyed and discussed:
- Route One: BallinaBallina, County MayoBallina is a large town in north County Mayo in Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountain range to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west...
- BallycastleBallycastle, County MayoBallycastle is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, situated northwest from Ballina, near Mayo's north coast in the West of Ireland. Ballycastle is also on the edge of an Irish speaking area called a Gaeltacht....
- Belmullet - Route Two: NewportNewport, County MayoNewport, historically known as Ballyveaghan , is a small picturesque town in the Barony of Burrishoole County Mayo, Ireland with a population of 590 in 2006. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along the shore of Clew Bay, north of Westport. The N59 road passes through the town. The...
- Mulrany - Belmullet - Route Three: Ballina - CrossmolinaCrossmolinaCrossmolina or Crosmolina is a town in the Barony of Tyrawley in County Mayo, Ireland, as well as the name of the parish in which Crossmolina is situated. The town sits on the River Deel near the northern shore of Lough Conn...
- Belmullet
People along these routes lobbied for the railway lines to pass through their district. However the merchants of Belmullet were more sceptical, and feared that the introduction of a railway line would adversely affect their trading position, putting Ballina within easy reach of the population. Plans for a railway to Blacksod, which would have served trans-Atlantic shipping , were therefore postponed.
Many still pressed the authorities for a rail line, and this movement gained momentum during the latter days of the First World War, when it was proposed that a line would improve lines of communication between both London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and London and the USA. However, when the war ended in 1918, the hopes for a railway service to Blacksod
Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland. The bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula and to its eastern side by the coastline of Kiltane Parish where it extends southwards from Belmullet towards Gweesalia and Doohoma...
ended with it.
Belmullet was the scene of Monster meetings of the Land League at the end of the 19th century.
20th century
John Millington SyngeJohn Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
author of "The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...
" and The Aran Islands, visited Belmullet in 1904, and reported: Belmullet in the evening is noisy and squalid, lonely and crowded at the same time and without appeal to the imagination. So at least one stays for a moment. When one has passed six times up and down hearing a gramophone in one house, a fiddle in the next, then an accordion and a fragment of a traditional lullaby, with many crying babies, pigs and donkeys and noisy girls and young men jostling in the darkness, the effect is not indistinct. All the light comes from doors or windows of shops. Last night was St. John’s Eve and bonfires were lighted all over the country, the largest of all being placed at the Town Square at Belmullet. Today, again, there was a large market in the square, where a number of country people, with their horses and donkeys, stood about bargaining for young pigs, heather brooms, homespun flannels, second hand clothing, blackening brushes, tinker’s goods and many other articles.http://towns.mayo-ireland.ie/
On August 6, 1940, during the Second World War, Garda William Cullen of Belmullet station received a phone call from coastwatchers at the nearby Annagh Head lookout post. He learned that the Atlantic currents had washed ashore the body of a British soldier. From his army pay-book, Cullen identified 21-year-old Donald Domican of the 5th Battalion, the Welsh Regiment. On the evening of August 6, Domican’s body was brought to Belmullet hospital. He was buried the following day at the Church of Ireland cemetery in the town. The next day another body of a British soldier was washed up at the same site.
Belmullet established a monthly cattle fair, and the town began to take trade from An Geatta Mór. The Bingham family fought back but their village was more or less deserted by the cattle traders by the late 19th century.
The area around Belmullet was severely impacted by the Great Irish Famine in the 19th century and in the next 100 years many people emigrated from the area to the United States and to England.
In recent years, improvement in the Irish economy has reversed population decline and Belmullet has seen some immigration. Despite many job losses in the area since the recession started in 2007, as with all over Ireland, Belmullet and the Mullet Peninsula has good natural resources in terms of fishing, tourism, wonderful location, unspoilt landscape and renewable energy resources (wind, hydro and ocean energy) and related industries are all bringing continued signs of improvement for the area.
Culture and tourism
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
, it is both an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
- and Irish speaking town. The area plays host in summer months to students enrolled in local Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
summer schools.
John Millington Synge
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
's play The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World
The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...
was based on his experience of the Belmullet area. Synge also wrote a poem entitled "Danny" about a character who was murdered by a group of local men as he was on his way back into Belmullet from Bangor Erris
Bangor Erris
Bangor Erris is a town in Kiltane parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland with a population of 500. It is on the banks of the Owenmore River and is the gateway to the Erris Peninsula linking Belmullet with Ballina and Westport, nestled at the foot of the "Bangor Trail" a 22-mile mountain pass across...
.
The area is popular for fishing, with both fresh-water and sea-angling off Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay
Broadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...
. Watersports are also common, with surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing.
This area of Erris was the setting for the Ulster Cycle legend of the Táin Bó Flidhais
Táin Bó Flidhais
Táin Bó Flidhais, also known as the Mayo Táin, is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is Táin Bó Cúailnge...
or the Mayo Táin.
In 2007, a new arts centre, Aras Inis Gluaire, opened in the town. Its mission was to become a leading bilingual arts centre in Ireland. As well as serving as the towns library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, the centre has a state of the art theatre, which has seen many accomplished artists perform in the town, among them being Mick Flannery
Mick Flannery
Mick Flannery is an Irish singer-songwriter from Blarney, County Cork.His debut album Evening Train resulted from his time spent studying music and management at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork...
and Damien Dempsey
Damien Dempsey
Damien Dempsey is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk with contemporary lyrics to deliver social comment on the positive and negative aspects arising from Ireland's Celtic Tiger society.-Early life:...
.
Belmullet Festivals
- Feile Iorras - International Arts Festival held in the town for a period of about ten days each July. It was set up in 1996 by Mayo County CouncilMayo County CouncilMayo County council is the local authority which is responsible for County Mayo in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county council is governed by the Local Government...
Arts Office to promote understanding and integration between the people of ErrisErrisErris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
and communities throughout the world. The festival encompasses all forms of folk artFolk artFolk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
from dancing to visual artsVisual artsThe visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
to musicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. 2010 dates are 16–26 July - Lá an Logha - 15 August each year sees the busiest time of the year in the town. This festival started off as a farmer's market and a day for men to proposeProposal of marriageA marriage proposal is an event where one person in a relationship asks for the other's hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement. It often has a ritual quality, sometimes involving the presentation of an engagement ring and a formalized asking of a question such as "Will...
to their future wives and go parading around the town with her on this special day. Now, its a day when the streets are overflowing with market stalls and the pubs are kept extremely busy. - Féile na Seachtaine, another arts based festival follows Lá an Logha. The town's annual Heritage Day is held during this time. Many people who have emigrated from Erris return to the area during the month of August to keep the pubs busy.
- Geesala Festival.There is a festival in GeesalaGeesalaGweesalia is a small village in the barony of Erris in the west of County Mayo, Ireland. It has a population of a couple of hundred, and has suffered much from emigration over the years...
part of which is the well-known DooloughDooloughDoolough is a coastal townland covering an area of in Kiltane Parish, Erris, North County Mayo. It is on the Doohoma peninsula south of Belmullet town. Its name comes from its location on miles of local sand dunes and beaches.- History :...
Races. This festival is held in mid-August.
External links
- http://www.vimeo.com/8668733 'Pipe Down' Winner of Best Feature Documentary: Waterford Film Festival 2009.
See also
- Connacht IrishConnacht IrishConnacht Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht. Gaeltacht regions in Connacht are found in Counties Mayo and Galway...
- Mullet Peninsula
- Táin Bó FlidhaisTáin Bó FlidhaisTáin Bó Flidhais, also known as the Mayo Táin, is a tale from the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature. It is one of a group of works known as Táin Bó, or "cattle raid" stories, the best known of which is Táin Bó Cúailnge...
- ErrisErrisErris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
- Broadhaven BayBroadhaven BayBroadhaven Bay is a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean situated on the northwestern coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching between Erris Head on the west side and Kid Island on the east side with approximately 8.6 km between the two sides.It borders...
- Blacksod BayBlacksod BayBlacksod Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland. The bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula and to its eastern side by the coastline of Kiltane Parish where it extends southwards from Belmullet towards Gweesalia and Doohoma...
- KilcommonKilcommonKilcommon is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants...
- Benwee HeadBenwee HeadBenwee Head Cliffs County MayoGaelic: An Bhinn BhuíHeight: 304 metres OS 1/50k Mapsheet: 22 for topGrid Ref: F816 443 Latitude: 54.333659 Longitude: -9.820924ITM: 481576 844301 Prominence: 230m Isolation: 5.4 km...
- GlinskGlinscGlinsce is a Gaeltacht townland in County Mayo, Ireland. It is in the parish of Kilcommon and barony of Erris...
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- Richard Barrett (poet)Richard Barrett (poet)Riocard Bairéad was a poet and United Irishman.Worked as a teacher and small farmer...