Welcome to Castlebar!
Castlebar in County Mayo (in Irish transliterating as Castle of Barry) is on the N60 and is eighteen km west of Westport. You can enjoy some pub grub and relaxation in the town of Castlebar, but the town and its surrounding area also offers a lot by way of heritage and history. Its tourist office is located on Linenhall Street and will be happy to provide you with directions.
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The majority of Irish people have historically lived in a rural setting since records began. Castlebar has a National Museum of Country Life, dedicated to the agrarian society that has contributed to making the Irish what they are today. You can see the romantic version of Irish life, with a poster of John Wayne in The Quiet Man, alongside the contemporaneous reality between 1850 and 1950 – the unrelenting, backbreaking work of farm labourers, fishermen, housewives and craftsmen, the various uses for hay rope and the ingenuity of those who used it, footage of men weaving a coracle boat, and Inisheer seaweed farmers wading through freezing waters. Festivals, superstitions that pre-date Christian customs and the reminiscences of those who lived in rural Ireland all feature too. The museum is based in Turlough near Castlebar, where you will also find the well-preserved Turlough Round Tower.
There are various other offerings of heritage scattered around the Castlebar area. Kiltimagh railway station, 24 kilometres away, has been converted to a museum.
The Michael Davitt Museum, a little closer at 15 km from the town, is dedicated to the nineteenth century political activist of the same name whose formative eviction experiences led to his activism in seeking land reform in Ireland. Davitt agitated for the right and ability of tenant farmers to become owner occupiers of their farms. The museum is a compilation of records and documentation central to Davitt’s life and times, including prison records, photographs and letters.
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Achill Golf Club
Achill Island, Co. Mayo
Achill Island, on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast, boasts a 9-hole links course in a spectacular location on the sandybanks in Keel. This golf course is open to the public, with reasonable green fees and also a weekly rate available for holiday makers.
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Ballina Golf Club
Ballina, Co. Mayo
18 hole parkland course close to Ballina Town. Very scenic. Green fees welcome. Membership available.
- Tel: +353 (0)96 21050
- Email: ballinagc@eircom.net
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Ballinrobe Golf Club
Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo
18 hole scenic parkland golf course will offer a challenge to any golfer with its mature trees, man-made lakes, lush fairways and traditional stone walls. Designed by Eddie Hackett, Ballinrobe looks like a golf course that has been in existence for 100 years.
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Ballyhaunis Golf Club
Co. Mayo
Hilly 9 hole course
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Carne Golf Club
Belmullet, Co. Mayo
Mayo's premier links course, located on the Mullet peninsula, just 2.5 km from Belmullet.
- Tel: +353 (0)97 82292
- Email: carngolf@iol.ie
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Castlebar Golf Club
Co. Mayo
18 hole parkland course
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Claremorris Golf Club
Claremorris, Co. Mayo
A splendid new 18 hole Parkland Course set amongst the ancient oak, elm and ash trees. Green fees €23 (week day).
- Tel: +353 (0)94 71527
- Email: claremorrisgc@ebookireland.com
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Clew Bay Golf Club
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Clew Bay 9-hole Golf Course is open to the public and plays 2,500 metres, Par 35. The Golf Course is located in an area of outstanding scenic grandeur with magnificent panoramic views of Clew Bay, its islands and Croagh Patrick.
- Tel: +353 (0) 98 41730
- Email: clewbaygc@eircom.net
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Cross Par 3 Golf Course
Cross, Co. Mayo
Mayo's Premier Par 3 Golf Course. Tranquil Country setting. Historic site. Excellent facilities.
- Tel: +353 (0)92 46203
- Email: dowagh@iol.ie
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Mulranny Golf Club
Co. Mayo
9 hole course
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Swinford Golf Club
Co. Mayo
9 hole parkland course
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Westport Golf Club
Clew Bay, Co. Mayo
Renown 18 Hole championship parkland course. Located amongst the panoramic scenery of Clew Bay, in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, and is an outstanding example of Hawtree design. Westport has hosted the Irish Close and Ladies Home Internationals, among others.
- Tel: +353 (0)98 28262
- Email: wpgolf@eircom.net
Main Town Attractions
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Museum of Country Life - Castlebar
Turlough Park, Almost 200,000 visitors in first year of business. Complete with restaurant. Here you can immerse yourself in the lives of our rural ancestors from the mid - 19th to the mid - 20th centuries. Lifestyles which were established for several hundred years came to an end well into living memory, and here amidst furniture and fittings, the tools they used to work the land and the clothes and textiles they wore, you can reach out and touch those vanished lives.Turlough Park is the site of the first de Burgo castle and the impressive High Victorian Gothic style house was built in 1865 by the Fitzgeralds, who farmed the surrounding land. Today the museum offers guided tours, an audio - visual exhibition, lectures, workshops, special events, family days, a museum shop & cafe.
Mayo Tourist Attractions
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Ballintubber Abbey - Claremorris
This 13th century abbey is unique, not only is it the only church in Ireland still in use which was founded by an Irish King, but it is also the one Irish church where for over 781 years Mass has been offered without a break. Its story is graphically told in a video documentary on show at the abbey. Founded in 1216 by the last King of Connaught, Cathal Crovdearg O'Connor, for the Canons Regular of St. Augustine order, the Abbey had large tracts of land in the district until the dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VII. Retreats, pilgrimages and tours are available today. The Celtic Furrow Visitors Centre provides guided tours of the region, tracing 5,000 years of Irish culture.
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Croagh Patrick - Westport - Westport
The Pilgrimage mountain of Croagh Patrick is located close to Wesport town. In 441 AD St. Patrick reached the summit of Croagh Patrick and fasted for 40 day. St. Patrick is also noted for banishing the snakes from Ireland. A wonderful experience and challenge on a fine day. Spectacular view of County Mayo. For info on Guided Tours of Croagh Partick
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Doon - Archaeological Nature Peninsula - Cong
A designated Area of Scienific Interest, Accredited a National Heritage Area. Doon Promontory Fort, on Lough Carra, with sites from Late Bronze Age, enclosed in a spectacular landscape of mountain, lake and woodland, is one of the largest identified site of its type in Ireland. A self-guided Tour along a woodland trail from our earliest ancestors, through Bronze Age (2,000 B.C.), Iron Age (300 B.C.), Early Christian and Norman Times. A town noted for the filming of the Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Many connections with the Quiet Man are on show. Also the location of Ashford Castle, a high quality hotel with private golf course.
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Kiltimagh Museum - Kiltimagh
In the 1980s the Historical Society acquired the old Goods Store of Kiltimagh Railway Station and turned it into a Museum. Two old Railway Carriages were acquired to commemorate the thousands of our people who had had to emigrate, and these were incorporated into the Museum. Now the Museum houses many artifacts from our past, such as the Land League Banner, buried for safety in a bog for forty years, the instruments of the 19th century town band, items from Kiltimagh Lace School, Railway artifacts and many other items reflecting different aspects of our past.
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Michael Davitt Museum - Foxford
The Michael Davitt Museum and the adjoining community centre were opened at Straide on 23 April 1984 to honour its native son, 'the father of the Land League' and one of Ireland's greatest patriots. Michael Davitt (1846-1906) was the founder, chief organiser and inspiring genius of the Land League, the biggest mass movement in modern Irish history, which transformed tenant-farmers into owner-occupiers by constitutional means.
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Museum of Country Life - Castlebar
Turlough Park, Almost 200,000 visitors in first year of business. Complete with restaurant. Here you can immerse yourself in the lives of our rural ancestors from the mid - 19th to the mid - 20th centuries. Lifestyles which were established for several hundred years came to an end well into living memory, and here amidst furniture and fittings, the tools they used to work the land and the clothes and textiles they wore, you can reach out and touch those vanished lives.Turlough Park is the site of the first de Burgo castle and the impressive High Victorian Gothic style house was built in 1865 by the Fitzgeralds, who farmed the surrounding land. Today the museum offers guided tours, an audio - visual exhibition, lectures, workshops, special events, family days, a museum shop & cafe.
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Quiet Man Film Locations - Cong
County Galway has several locations which were used in the making of the file. The Quiet Man. Visit the main film locations in an organised tour or join the Quiet Man Fan Club.
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The Marian Shrine - Knock
Our Lady's Shrine Knock, is one of the great Marian shrines of the world, attracting over 1,500,000 visitors annually. It is an oasis of peace, tranquility and deep spirituality where many who come to see, remain to pray and find reconciliation. Knock is the scene of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John on 21 August 1879, witnessed by fifteen local people.
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The Tóchar Valley - Westport
A beautiful area of rural communities stretching from Balla to Murrisk, at the foot of Croagh Patrick, "Ireland's Holy Mountain". Steeped in antiquity, the unspoiled countryside is liberally sprinkled with churches, Celtic artifacts and historical sites. The Tóchar Phádraig pilgrim route, which links these townlands and villages for a distance of 55km., is the ancient pilgrim pathway to Croagh Patrick.
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Westport Zoo - Westport
Westport, a tourist town with wildlife park and zoological gardens.
Heritage Sites
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Céide Fields - Ballina
Ballycastle - 8 miles from Ballins. Beneath the wild boglands of North Mayo lies Ceide Fields, the most extensive stone age monument in the world; field systems, dwelling areas and megalithic tombs of 5,000 years ago. In addition, the wild flora of the bog is of international importance and is bounded by some of the most spectacular rock formations and cliffs in Ireland. The Visitor Centre houses displays and exhibitions in English and Irish.
