Charlestown, County Mayo
Encyclopedia
Charlestown once named Newtown-Dillon or Ballycattell, is a 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...

 in the Barony of Costello
Barony of Costello
Costello was one of the baronies of County Mayo. In the pre-Norman times the area was called Sliabh Lugha and was ruled by the Ó Gadhra dynasty. In the 12th century, Milo de Angelo removed the O'Gadhra seat from in Airtech Mór to Costello...

, 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
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. It is located at the intersection of two National Primary routes, the N17 and the N5. Until the N5 bypass opened in November 2007, traffic congestion was a problem in the town. The busy N17 still passes through the town.

History

Charlestown was built in the middle of the 19th century, on the initiative of Lord Dillon
Viscount Dillon
Viscount Dillon, of Costello-Gallen in the County of Mayo, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1622 for Theobald Dillon, Lord President of Connaught. The Dillons were an Hiberno-Norman landlord family from the 13th century in a part of County Westmeath was called 'Dillon's...

's agent, Charles Strickland
Charles Strickland (town planner)
Charles Strickland, was the local agent and town planner in County Mayo for Lord Dillon. He was the founder of the settlement of Charlestown. In 1860 he helped build the Cathedral of Ballaghaderreen where his memory is commemorated in the architecture....

, adjoining Bellaghy in County Sligo. The town has now a population of approximately 800 people. The town is well planned with wide open streets and parking facilities. Located on the intersection of two National Primary routes, the N17 and the N5, Charlestown is an ideal stopover or centre to stay and visit other locations.

There are two schools in Charlestown, one primary school and one secondary.YURT. The convent was set up under the Marist order and some remnants still remain as part of the school's heritage (i.e.: their crests are an emblem of the Marist doctrine-meaning All for Jesus through Mary. Currently there are just over 400 students in the school.

The village was the subject of a serialised social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...

 in the Irish Times by John Healy
John Healy (Irish journalist)
John Healy was an Irish journalist from Charlestown, County Mayo, who wrote for Western People and The Irish Times.-Career:...

. This was later published as Death Of An Irish Town, and later republished as No One Shouted Stop! Written in 1967, it was highly critical of government policies towards rural areas, and took Charlestown as an example solely because it was the town of the author's birth.

Sport

The village achieved a major sporting coup when the local Gaelic Football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

 team Charlestown Sarsfields reached the All Ireland club semi-final in 2001, losing out on a final spot by two points.

Also in 2008, the senior girls team(U-19) took their team to the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin. They faced stiff competition from Rockwell College of Tipperary. Team captains Siobhain Doherty and Emily Cartwright accepted the trophy on behalf of the elated team. All the effort that coach Ann Leydon put in with them over the 4 and 5 years paid off in the end. They are also the first team in the school's sporting history to obtain an All Ireland trophy.

Transport

Trains ran through Charlestown from 1895 through 1963.The village had a station on the GS&W
History of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland counted 5,500 route kilometers...

 line from Claremorris
Claremorris
Claremorris , is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. The population of Claremoris in the 2011 Census was 3,979....

 to Collooney
Collooney
-Transport:Collooney is located just off the N4 and N17 roads, having been bypassed twice, by the N4 in 1998, and the N17 in 1992, and is the meeting point of both roads. The town was a significant railway centre, with no less than three railway stations...

, part of the Western Railway Corridor
Western Railway Corridor
The Western Railway Corridor , or Conair Iarnróid an Iarthair , in Ireland is a recent term for a mostly disused railway line running through the West of Ireland...

. Charlestown station opened on 1 October 1895 closed for passenger traffic on 17 June 1963, and finally closed altogether on 3 November 1975.
The Town has a long proud handballing tradition going back to 1920's. The local club has produced numerous all - ireland Champions at all grades over the last one hundred years.

People

Charlestown was the home town of Irish Times and Western People journalist John Healy
John Healy (Irish journalist)
John Healy was an Irish journalist from Charlestown, County Mayo, who wrote for Western People and The Irish Times.-Career:...

 who wrote a series of articles about the town which were later turned into a book, No One Shouted Stop (see History, above). Michael O'Doherty
Michael J. O'Doherty
Monsignor Michael J. O'Doherty was Archbishop of Manila from 6 Sep 1916 until his death.He was born in Charlestown, County Mayo and educated at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, the Royal College of Science, Dublin and the Irish College, Salamanca.He was Professor of Classics at Maynooth, and later...

, Archbishop of Manila, was born in Charlestown, and it was also the home town of Margaret Sweeney, grandmother of Noel
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...

 and Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...

 of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...

. The 2006 population of Charlestown was just over 800 people.
Pictures of the town can be found on the following link http://www.google.ie/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=763&q=gay&gbv=2&oq=gay&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=785l1940l0l2725l3l3l0l0l0l0l200l369l0.1.1l2l0

See also

  • List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

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