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CASTLEBAR |
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CASTLEBAR , although it's the county town of Mayo, offers little
reason to hang around. The tree-bordered green is attractive, and the
main street has all the facilities you might need conveniently gathered
together, but since the demise of the annual rock festival there seems
to be little going on. Historically, it's notable for a Franco-Irish
victory in 1798, at which General Humbert's army routed a stronger force
commanded by General Lake - the event has gone down in history as the "Castlebar
Races" because of the speed of the British retreat.
The tourist office (Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm; tel 094/21207) is in the Old
Linen Hall - which was the venue for a celebratory dinner after the rout
of the British in 1798 - and, with information about the whole of north
Mayo, is more than usually useful if you're planning an extended stay;
it's particularly strong on walking. In the same building is the Linen
Hall Arts Centre, which puts on sometimes imaginative shows (including
plenty for children); and, if you are crying out for cappuccinos, you
can buy them in the attached café.
You'll find no shortage of accommodation here: there's the swanky
Breaffy House out on the Claremont Rd (tel 094/22033,
www.breaffyhouse.ie ; £90-110/¬114.28-139.67), a Victorian pile with
hideous modern extensions; or, back in town, the friendly and
comfortable Daly's Hotel (tel 094/21961; £55-70/¬69.84-88.88), which is
ideally situated on the green. B&Bs are mainly concentrated on the
Westport Road, where you could try Drumshinnagh House (tel 094/24211,
berniecollins@oceanfree.net ; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), or Millhill House (tel
094/24279; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), both of which allow children to stay
for half price. Unfortunately the town's excellent hostel has closed;
the nearest hostel is Creevagh House , six miles away in Ballintubber .
There's a fine fish restaurant on Chapel Street, An Carraig (tel
094/26159), or try the new Indian restaurant, Tulsi , on Lower Charles
St (tel 094/25066), which serves some of the finest Indian cuisine in
the west of the country. Café Rouge in New Antrim Street does a good
range of home cooking for daytime eating, while for a huge breakfast,
the Kitty Sark , off Main Street is the place to go (walk to the top of
Main Street and turn right at the Irish Permanent Building Society). For
pub food there's the excellent Flannelly's behind the train station,
while filling lunches are served at Daly's Hotel . McCarthy's Bar in
Main Street has snugs and traditional music . Johnnie McHale's ,
opposite the Welcome Inn in Upper Chapel Street, is a great old
Castlebar music pub, as is the Irish House in Thomas Street. Moran's ,
off the green in Spencer Street, has music on Thursday nights.
Seven miles south of Castlebar on the Ballinrobe Road (N84) is
Ballintubber Abbey . Founded in 1216 by Cathal O'Connor, King of
Connacht, it is claimed to be the oldest church in Ireland to have been
in continual use. Leaflets on the church are freely available and there
is an informative, if rather dated, video showing the local community
performing its annual passion play and following pilgrims along Tóchar
Phádraig , the 22-mile pilgrim route to Croagh Patrick, which starts at
the abbey. A mile away is the fine Creevagh House Farmhouse Hostel (tel
094/30747, www.creevaghhouse.com ) which is well equipped with small
dorms and good showers.
Southeast of Ballintubber Abbey, on the shores of Lough Carra, you can
explore the Doon Archeological Nature Peninsula (June-Sept 10am-6pm;
£3/¬3.81). With things to see from standing stones to Norman castles,
and a Famine grave, the place opens up the complex human history of this
seemingly little-populated area.
About five miles southeast along the N60, Balla , a single wide street
of pastel-coloured houses, has a short round tower, off the main square,
that may be a twelfth-century "fake". The hamlet of Mayo , lost in a
maze of unsignposted lanes, has only an abrupt right-angle bend in the
road to mark the ghostly presence of the Augustinian abbey that gave the
place enough importance to make it the county town.
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