Castlebar

Understand

1524: Great inclemency of weather, and mortality of cattle, in the beginning of the year - Annals of the Four Masters So this, plus a couple of lost battles, was the stuff of legend in Castlebar in the medieval period. The Norman castle is long gone, being replaced by a barracks, in use until 2012 then converted to council offices. For most of its history Castlebar was just a small town with a market and a racecourse, then in 1798 was its moment of fame when the French invaded. The United Irishmen led by Wolfe Tone sought help from republican France to throw off the British; a first invasion fleet in 1796 was beaten back by storms in Bantry Bay. The uprising of 1798 collapsed almost as soon as it began, only gaining control for a time of County Wexford, and utterly defeated by the end of June. So it was already too little, too late when the French landed near Killala on 22 Aug, with 1100 troops under General Humbert. But the area was lightly defended so they swept into Killala and Ballina; Castlebar was obviously next. The British had time to reinforce Castlebar with 6000 men, but they expected attack to come along the Ballina road from the northeast. The French learned of a path through the bogs and uplands of Nephin, west of Lough Conn, and caught the British off-balance; they came under artillery fire but advanced up a sheltered gully. Their bayonet charge panicked the British, so a numerically superior, better-equipped force turned tail and ran, and ran and ran even though they weren't pursued. It became known as the "Castlebar Races", a legend that outlived the racecourse itself, let alone the brief "Connaught Republic" then proclaimed. It was all over 12 days later as British forces poured into the region, and its Irish supporters paid with their lives. The town then lapsed back into obscurity, with the standard ups and downs of Victorian Irish country life: occasional "great inclemency of weather, and mortality of cattle", the end of the Penal Laws against Ca

Getting there

By plane Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC IATA), 32 km east, has flights mostly from UK. You might prefer to fly into Dublin, which has a much better choice of flights, then drive west.

By train Trains from Dublin Heuston take 3 hours to Castlebar. On the morning and evening services (heading for Galway) you change at Athlone. Through the day three direct trains run via Portarlington, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris and Manulla Junction to Castlebar, continuing to Westport. Change at Manulla Junction for the train to Ballina. See Irish Rail for timetables, fares and tickets. 1 Castlebar railway station is 1 km southeast of town centre off N84. Buy tickets from the machines.

By bus There is no direct bus from Dublin: you need to travel via Athlone or Galway, a weary trek by either route. From Galway, Expressway 52 runs 6 times a day via Tuam and Claremorris to Castlebar (1 hr 45 min), Foxford and Ballina. The slower Bus 456 runs every 3 hours via Headford, Shrule and Ballinrobe to Westport then Castlebar. Bus Éireann 440 from Westport takes 20 min to Castlebar. It continues to Knock airport and village, Roscommon and Athlone. There are 5 M-Sa and three on Sunday. Bus Éireann 422 runs three times a day from Castlebar to Balintubber, Ballinrobe, Neale, Cong, Cross, Glencorrib and Headford. Buses stop on Market St and elsewhere in Castlebar.

By road Driving from Dublin take M4 / N4 to Longford then N5 all the way to Castlebar, and reckon 3 hours.

Getting around

Castlebar itself is easy to walk around, but most sights are several km out in the country with scant public transport, so you need wheels. Taxi firms are Gibbons (+353 87 244 0245) and Lynx (+353 94 903 4700).

See

Town centre is agreeable 19th century low rise, the best of it is along Market St. Traffic there is southbound, eddying clockwise via Upper Chapel St northbound. The castle has completely gone, leaving a green space east side of the centre. 1 Church of the Holy Rosary (Roman Catholic) is on Upper Chapel St. It was built from 1897 after many set-backs and tribulations, and the spire was never added. The exterior is rather rough-hewn Victorian Gothic but the interior is more successful, open daily 10AM-11PM. 2 Mayo Peace Park naturally caused bitter feuds. It was created in 2008 to commemorate the many local people who died in the two World Wars and other conflicts. But they mostly did so in British uniform under the Union Jack, plus quite a few for the US, what about all our Republican and Fenian deaths, are they not good enough? And then a local online scandal sheet ran a story about homosexual assignations in the park, in less-than-inclusive language, and the story itself became a media story, with legal threats and accusations every which way. The scandal sheet imploded shortly thereafter, there ought to be some kind of monument. The park is a pleasant place to stroll by Lough Lannagh southwest edge of town, accessible 24 hours. 3 Turlough Park (Folklife Museum), Turlough Park House F23 HY31, ☏ +353 94 903 1755. Su M 1-5PM, Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM. This branch of the National Museum depicts arts and crafts of rural Ireland, mainly 1850-1950. It's in a modern building by the Victorian Gothic Turlough House. Free. (updated Feb 2026) Turlough Round Tower is 500 m north of the museum and may date to 1000 AD. It's a well preserved but unusually stubby specimen. 4 Michael Davitt Museum, Strade F26 FX27, ☏ +353 94 903 1942. M-Sa 10AM-5PM. Davitt (1846-1906) was born here but when he was four the family were evicted for rent arrears. They moved to Lancashire, where he worked in a cotton mill but lost his right arm in the machinery. Thus radicalised, he went on to join the Irish Re

Do

What's on? Listen to CRC FM on 102.9 MHz or read Mayo Advertiser the weekly freesheet for event listings. Linenhall Arts Centre in town centre hosts theatre, music and exhibitions. Royal Theatre and Hotel is on Old Westport Rd by the hospital. Gaelic football: GAA Mayo county team plays football at MacHale Park (all-seater, capacity 28,000). It's 700 m east of town centre, off N5 Lawn Rd, and named for the Archbishop of Tuam 1831-81. The town team Castlebar Mitchels also play here. (They might want to rethink that name as Mitchel was a notorious advocate of slavery, see Newry his home town.) The county hurling team also plays here but football is the big sport in Mayo. Mayo Leisure Point has ten pin bowling, laser and arcade games and a toddlers play area. It's on Moneen Rd east side of town centre. Cinema: Mayo Movie World is next to Leisure Point. Leisure Complex at Lough Lannagh is southwest edge of town past the hospital. There's a pool, gym and fitness classes. Golf: Castlebar GC is 2 km south of town. White tees 5518 yards, par 72. Great Western Greenway stretches from the Folklife Museum at Turlough to Castlebar and 2 km further west to Lough Mallard. From there it's on-road through the lanes to Westport, where it's again off-road through