Westport, County Mayo

The Clock Tower in the town centre

Westport originates and gets its name, in Irish, from a 16th-century castle - Cathair na Mart (meaning "the stone fort of the beeves" or "the city of the fairs") - and surrounding settlement, belonging to the powerful local seafaring Ó Máille clan, who controlled the Clew Bay area, then known as Umaill.

The original village of Cathair na Mart existed somewhere around what is now the front (east) lawn of Westport House. It had a high street, alleys down to the river and a population of around 700.[8] A small port also existed at the mouth of the Carrowbeg river. Roads lead from the village to the west (West Road), the south (Sandy Hill Road) and the east (Old Paddock Road). The town was moved to its present site in the 1780s by the Browne family of Westport House to make way for their gardens and was renamed Westport.[6]

Westport is designated as a heritage town and is unusual in Ireland in that it is one of only a few planned towns in the country.[9] A feature of his town plan is the tree-lined boulevard, the Mall, built on the Carrowbeg River.

James Wyatt finished Westport House, the stately home of the Marquess of Sligo and designed its dining room.[10] Westport House was originally built by Richard Cassels (also known as Richard Castle), the German architect, in the 1730s, near the site of the original Ó Máille Castle.[11]

Since the late 20th century, Westport has expanded with several new housing estates. Some of these include Springfield, the Carrowbeg Estate, Horkans Hill, Cedar Park, Fairways, Knockranny Village and Sharkey Hill.

Westport House 2008

Designed by the famous architects Richard Cassels and James Wyatt in the 18th century, Westport House is situated in a parkland setting with a lake, terraces, gardens and views overlooking Clew Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Achill, Clare Island and Ireland's Holy Mountain, Croagh Patrick.

In October 2015 it was revealed that the Westport House Estate was in the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) for debts secured on the 380-acre estate, but not the house, for almost 10 million Euros.[12] In January 2017, it was announced that a local family had purchased the house and grounds.[13]

In 2007 the privately owned estate received a grant of 1.34 million Euros for repairs to Westport House, from the state funded Heritage Council.[14]

The previous owners, the Browne family, are direct descendants of wealthy slave plantation owners in Jamaica, Howe Peter Browne (2nd Marquess of Sligo) and his wife Lady Sligo (Hester Catherine De Burgh),[15] as well as the 16th-century pirate, Gráinne Ní Mháille, Queen of Umaill.

An exhibition at Westport House styles Howe Peter Browne as 'Champion of the Slaves',[16] a suggestion that one historian refers to as 'hyperbole', pointing out that "Browne benefited from slavery from the cradle to the grave and did not free his slaves until the institution of slavery was abolished by an act of parliament" and that Howe Peter Browne also claimed, and received, substantial compensation from the British government for the loss of his slaves.[15]

The original house was built by Colonel John Browne, a Jacobite, who was at the Siege of Limerick, and his wife Maude Bourke. Maude Bourke was Ní Mháille's great-great granddaughter. The house then did not have the lake or a dam, and the tide rose and fell against the walls.[17]

Between the censuses of 2011 and 2016, the town showed a limited growth from 5,543 to 6,198 inhabitants.[22]

People from Westport town are traditionally known as Coveys.[23] Some decades ago the Covey dialect still existed and was unintelligible to outsiders. For example, the Covey word for a woman was a "doner".[24]

Matt Molloy of the Chieftains has a pub and music venue on Bridge Street.

Holy Trinity church at night

Many festivals and events are held in and around Westport each year.[26]

• Westport Festival of Music and Performing Arts
• The Acoustic Yard Singer/Songwriters Festival, May
• Westport Horse & Pony Show, June
• Sea Angling Festival, June
• Croagh Patrick Pilgrimage, July
• Westport Arts Festival, October
• Westport Blue Grass Festival, June
• Westport Seafood Festival, October
• Westport Festival of Chamber Music, September
• The Westport Shop n' Spraoi na Nollag, December
• The Saltwater Festival Westport[27]

Clew Bay with Clare Island

Westport is County Mayo's premier tourist destination,[31] visited by holiday makers from all over the world and Ireland.[32]

In 1842, the English novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray, visited Westport and wrote of the town:

"The most beautiful view I ever saw in the world. It forms an event in one's life to have seen that place so beautiful that is it, and so unlike other beauties that I know of. Were such beauties lying on English shores it would be a world's wonder perhaps, if it were on the Mediterranean or Baltic, English travellers would flock to it by hundreds, why not come and see it in Ireland!"[33]

Visitors visit Westport for the scenery, the pubs and restaurants in the town, blue flag beaches, and Croagh Patrick.[34] Its proximity to Connemara, Achill, Clew Bay and Croagh Patrick, and its hotels and guest houses, make it a base for holidaymakers to tour the region.

Westport House and its Pirate Adventure Park attracts families. Westport has an 18-hole golf course and nearby a 9-hole course.

In January 2008, Westport became Google Earth's first fully 3D town.[35][36]

Westport is twinned with Plougastel-Daoulas in Brittany, France and with Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The link with the latter has its roots in the 1980s and the official ratification and twinning ceremony took place in 2002.[37]

Since 1982, Westport also has a partnership with the town of Aror, Kenya, and the people of Westport have contributed to improving the infrastructure of Aror.[38][39]

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church

Holy Trinity Anglican Church

St Patrick's statue at the Octagon

There are four churches in the town: the Catholic Church, St Mary's; the Anglican church, Holy Trinity; the Evangelical church, Calvary Church Westport; the Elim Pentecostal Church, and Amazing Grace Church.[40] Historically, a Methodist church existed on the Mall and a Presbyterian church on Distillery Road.

Church records for the 19th century (Church of Ireland, Methodist, Roman Catholic, civil, gravestone inscriptions, etc.) and other historical records for the Westport area are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre in Ballinrobe and the Clew Bay Heritage Centre at Westport Quay.

Westport has two secondary schools, four primary schools and Westport College of Further Education, that opened in 2009.

The secondary schools are Rice College (528 pupils, all-boys)[41] and Sacred Heart School (over 500 pupils, all-girls).[42]

• George A. Birmingham, writer, rector of Holy Trinity Church, Westport. His play General John Regan caused a riot when staged in Westport.
• Cornelius Coughlan, Irish recipient of Victoria Cross, died and buried in Westport
• John MacBride, commemorated by a monument on the Mall. Born in Westport, he was executed in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising. He was the father of Nobel peace laureate Sean MacBride.
• Joseph Maher, actor
• Conor O'Malley, footballer
• Michael Ring, politician
• Séamus Hughes, politician
• Lee Keegan, gaelic footballer.

Memorial for the Clew Bay Drowning

Westport has a small adjoining port, the quay, once busy but no longer used for commercial shipping, now a suburb notable for its many warehouse conversions. The quay has several restaurants and pubs, and is the location of Westport United's training ground. The Clew Bay Heritage Centre, a small museum celebrating the history of Westport and maritime history of Clew Bay, is open to the public here. In 1894, the harbour was the scene of the Clew Bay Drowning.

The Gaelic football club, Westport United soccer club and the rugby club have competed in county and national events. Westport, and the surrounding region, has been identified as a primary centre for adventure sports by Fáilte Ireland.[46] Every August it hosts the largest one-day adventure multi-sport race of its kind in the world – Gael Force West.[47][48] It is also home to horse riding, surfing, sea kayaking, wind surfing and sailing schools and other adventure sports.[49]

Soccer

Panoramic view of Westport as seen from the Castlebar side, showing Croagh Patrick (left background) and Clare Island (right background)

Westport United football club was founded in 1911. Westport United won the FAI Junior Cup in 2005 in Kilkenny and play their home matches in the newly developed United Park, which opened in September 2016. Westport United still uses the Sports Park for some underage games. The club colours are red and black. Westport also won the Connaught Cup in 1942, 1945, 1949, 1961, 1974, 1987 and 2012 along with numerous Mayo titles.

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

• Peadar O Flanagan, "An Outline History of the Town of Westport. Part 1. The origins and early development of the town 1750–80", in Cathar na Mart: The Journal of the Westport Historical Society; volume 1, part I, 1981; parts II-IV in volumes 2, 3 and 4, 1982–84.
• Kieran Clarke, "Clew Bay boating disaster", in Cathar na Mart; 6, 1986.
• Brendan Jeffars, Westport – an early Irish example of town planning, 1734–1950, Cahar na Mart; 8, 1988.
• Jarlath Duffy, "The port of Westport, 1800–1850", in Cathar na Mart; 15, pp. 1–14, 1995.
• Vincent Keane, "Westport and the Irish Volunteers. Part I:the early years, 1914–1916", Cathar na Mart; 22, pp. 84–88, 2002

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westport, County Mayo.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Westport.

• Westport (Ireland) travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Westport Tourism
• Westport Town Council
• Westport GAA: CLG Chathair na Mart