Newport, historically known as Ballyveaghan , is a small picturesque town in the Barony of Burrishoole 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,...

 with a population of 590 in 2006. It is located on the west coast of Ireland, along the shore of Clew Bay

Clew Bay

Clew Bay is a natural ocean bay in County Mayo, Ireland. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. According to tradition, there is an island in the bay for every day of the year. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain, and the mountains of North Mayo. Clare...

, north of Westport

Westport, County Mayo

Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....

. The N59 road

Roads in Ireland

The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to...

 passes through the town. The county town of 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...

 is approx 18 km east of Newport. The Black Oak River flows through the centre of the town and there are pleasant walking paths along its grassy banks.

Places of interest

Newport has a very striking railway bridge (no longer used for rail carriage) like an aqueduct

Aqueduct

An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....

 which is commonly referred to as "The Viaduct

Viaduct

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...

", which, with the Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 church on top of the hill, dominate the town and create a picturesque appearance. St. Patrick's Catholic Church, built in 1914 in the Irish Romanesque style by Rudolph M. Butler is so imposing that it is usually referred to as 'Newport Cathedral'. It has a magnificent stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

 east window of The Last Judgement, the last window completed by Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke was an Irish stained glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement.- History :...

 in 1930. Burrishoole Friary

Burrishoole Friary

Burrishoole Friary was a Dominican friary in County Mayo, Ireland. Its ruin is a National Monument.Burrishoole Friary was founded in 1470 by Richard de Burgo of Turlough, Lord MacWilliam Oughter. It was built without the permission of the Pope. In 1486, the Pope instructed the Archbishop of Tuam...

 and Gráínne O'Malley's Rockfleet Castle

Rockfleet Castle

Rockfleet Castle, or Carraigahowley Castle , is a tower house near Newport in County Mayo, Ireland. It was built in the mid sixteenth century, and is most famously associated with Gráinne O'Malley, the pirate queen and chieftain of the clan O’Malley.Rockfleet Castle has four floors and is over...

 are both just to the west of the town. The town is a popular angling

Angling

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

 and tourist centre.

History of Newport

Newport was established in the early 18th century by the Medlycott family. James Moore, working for the Medlycott Estate, designed the Quay at Newport in a formal layout. The Medlycott family's land agent was a Captain Pratt. Captain Pratt introduced linen manufacturing to the town under the management of immigrant Quakers who relocated to Co. Mayo from Ulster. It would appear that, although the immigrant Quakers consequently found living conditions in Mayo too difficult, the linen industry picked up in the mid-18th century and for the next forty years or so the town prospered around the industry, but in the early 19th century it again fell into decline as it was superseded as a port by the town of Westport

Westport, County Mayo

Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....

 some miles to the south. At the end of the 18th century, the Medlycott Estate was taken over by the O'Donel family who built Newport House overlooking the harbour, which is now a hotel.

Quakers in Newport

In 1719 a community of Quakers or Society of Friends came to Newport under a Captain Pratt who established a colony

Colony

In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....

 of linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 weavers in the town which was known as Ballyvaughan at that time. Quakers, due to their reputation of being honest and excellent hard working tenants, were much sought after by the landlords of estates at the time. Quaker communities usually prospered wherever they went but the Quakers in Newport were always reported to be in poor circumstances and they always needed support and help from other Quakers across Ireland and further afield from whom they were now far removed geographically by their remote location. The nearest community of Quakers was based in Co. Roscommon at a place called Ballymurray. The Newport Quakers appear to have been an unfortunate community with no Meeting house

Meeting house

A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....

, instead meeting for religious worship in each other's homes. With many deaths of their young people occurring within the community in the years after resettling in Mayo, a burial ground had to be established for them in the town. The linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 business interests fell on hard times and life was always a struggle with constant assistance having to be brought to Newport by visiting Quakers. By 1736 the Newport Quakers started to think very seriously about removing from their settlement in Co. Mayo. There was no fresh blood for them to be able to find suitable marriage partners from within their own community as they were all closely related and this caused them great concern. Only marriage within the Quaker community would have been acceptable to the elders of the community as would have been normal practice in those days. Anybody choosing a partner from outside would have had to leave the community network and could no longer be accepted into the Religious Society of Friends

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

. The Newport Quakers community struggled on for a few more years and eventually bought some land in Roscommon where they would be closer to the Quaker community at Ballymurray. During the winter of 1739/1740 the last of the Newport Quaker community left their Newport land and homes and moved to Co. Roscommon where their lives would be less wretched. Many Quakers went to America to make new lives for themselves in the years that followed. The Quakers are well recognised in Ireland because during the time of the Great Famine (1845/47) they raised a lot of money for famine relief, and came to the aid of famine victims setting up soup kitchens in some of the worst hit areas of the west.

The Sisters of Mercy

Sisters of Mercy

The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....

The O'Donel family who took over from the Medlycotts were Protestant but George O'Donel's wife was 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"...

 and he donated three acres of land on Barrack Hill to the Sisters of Mercy to build a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

 in Newport. It was noted that when the foundations were being dug out for the new convent in 1884 many coins and buttons were unearthed, the buttons bearing the inscription of "Pratt". In 1887 the convent was completed and St. Joseph's Convent National School opened with a roll of 211 girls and 34 boys. The school was a great success and numbers continued to grow. The nuns were a popular addition to Newport and local merchants donated gifts to the convent. In 1894 a school to train girls in the lace

Lace school

Lace schools were common in Britain from the 17th to 19th century to teach lace-making.Lace schools were often the living rooms of small cottages and were known for being overcrowded, badly lit and often unsanitary...

 making industry opened and provided a successful industry until the lace market collapsed after the 2nd World War. Due to rationalisation, the sisters vacated the convent in 1977 and took up residence in a rented building in the town. The convent then had its own secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 but in recent years, Newport pupils travel to secondary schools in Westport

Westport, County Mayo

Westport is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is situated on the west coast at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean....

.

People

• Birthplace of John (Juan) King who went on to become along with Admiral Brown, one of the founders of the Argentine Navy.
• The paternal grandfather of Grace Kelly
  Grace Kelly
  Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
  
  , American actress and wife of Prince Rainier, was born in Drumilra, Newport.
• The historic Murray Hotel of Mackinac Island
  Mackinac Island
  Mackinac Island is an island and resort area covering in land area, part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was home to a Native American settlement before European...
  
  , MI, U.S.A. opened in the mid-19th century was founded by Dominick Murray of Newport. The Murray Family is still today a prominent clan in the Straits of Mackinac
  Straits of Mackinac
  The Straits of Mackinac is the strip of water that connects two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and separates the Lower Peninsula of Michigan from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is a shipping lane providing passage for raw materials and finished goods, connecting, for...
  
   region.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

• http://www.ackworth.w-yorks.sch.uk/images/Newport.jpg Views of Newport
• http://www.cuanmodh.ie
• http://www.cuanmodh.ie/newporthistsoc/