Whilst the coming of marts removed a lot of the drudgery associated with the buying and selling of cattle, it also signalled the passing of a part of Ireland's social fabric, particularly for people from rural areas. Cattle were sold in the Fairgreen in Castlebar for many generations where Mrs. Kenny from the Main Street erected her little tent and sold bottles of stout from early morning to well into the afternoon. She was grandmother of Enda Kenny, T.D., leader of the Fine Gael Party.

John Bruton's father also bought cattle in the Fairgreen and rented several railway carriages to convey his stock to Co. Meath. John, of course, was also leader of the Fine Gael Party.
The sale of cattle also took place in Staball at one time and the original fairgreen in Castlebar was located opposite the Sacred Heart Hospital.
Stephen Garavan's pub at the junction of Rush Street and Lucan Street had a large yard at the rear of the premises where farmers kept their cattle. The late Gussie Garvey, Barrack Bridge, and Walter Beardwell, Lucan Street, kept an eye on the cattle for their owners and made a few bob for themselves.

Garavans was one of the leading pubs and grocery businesses in Castlebar at the time. Stephen Garavan was a very astute businessman and a prominent member of Castlebar Golf Club.
John Garava, Willie Lavelle Frank Durcan at St. Patricks day paradeA native of Carrowholly, Westport, his wife was a member of the Daly family from Belcarra; James Daly, editor of The Connaught Telegraph, was co-founder of the Land League with Michael Davitt. John Garavan is a grand-nephew of James Daly, a great Castlebar man, a gentleman in the true sense of the word.
Stephen Garavan had two sons, John and Charlie, and a daughter, Mary, who died at an early age. Sadly Charlie passed away close to a year ago, a fine all-round sportsman, soccer and rugby player.
John, an eminent member of the legal profession, is a retired judge, a former president of the Irish Lawn Tennis Association and at one time a member of the National Council of the Laity. He is also a former chairman of Castlebar Urban Council.

John Garavan has been described as one the most able judges ever to sit on the Irish bench. He has an immense knowledge of Castlebar and its people, a man with a genuine common touch who relates easily to people of all classes in the
community.
When RTÉ made a film about the life and times of Margaret Burke Sheridan, the world-famous Castlebar-born soprano, John acted as adviser to the producers and played a leading role in the film. His wife Anne is a prominent member of Castlebar Tennis Club and can still wield the racquet with skill and determination.

Garavans had various people on their staff over the years, but the people I best remember are Jimmy Murnane, who came from Limerick, a sweet hurler, Tiernan Reilly, Crossmolina, who later set up a very successful business in the town, and Nellie Mullaney, Belcarra, a raven-haired beauty, who later married Dr. Emmet Clarke, a son of Thomas Clarke, one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation.

St. Patricks Parade organising committee in the 1950sFeeneys' Meadow and Marsh House
With the passage of time names of particular areas change and are lost to local communities. In the past the area behind Elverys premises on Main Street, Castlebar, was known as Feeneys' Meadow. A family named Dudgeon manufactured clay pipes in this area at one time. The family were well known locally and lived opposite The Green, Castlebar.
Where the McCormack Estate is now located, at Lower Charles Street, was known as Feeneys' Field. Both properties were owned by P.J. Feeney, one of the best known businessmen in the west of Ireland in the early 1900s.

In 1947 Councillor William Cresham proposed that Feeneys' Meadow be chosen as the site for a swimming pool. This followed the tragic drowning of two young local boys, John and James Tonra, in Lough Lannagh.
I sat in the same classroom as the two young boys who were brothers of Mary Monaghan, Ballymacragh, a very gracious lady who was a dedicated member of the nursing staff of the County Hospital for many years. Her late husband Tony, a useful hurler in his day, was a prominent member of Castlebar Rehab.
P.J. Feeney was father of Madge Feeney, who lived in a house in what was then known as The Marsh and later purchased by Castlebar Urban Council. The late Robert Kilkelly, well known Castlebar businessman, was also born in
this house where a school for Protestant children was located at one time. One of the teachers was a Miss Carson from Breaffy whose granddaughter I met some years ago when she was holidaying in Castlebar from Canada.

The Actons of Cloonagh
Older Castlebar people may remember the Acton family, who lived at Cloonagh, Castlebar. Cloonagh is a small townland close to Saleen lake and the easiest access to the area is through Lovers Lane, off Westport Road, and onto the railway crossing beside Saleen Lake.
The last of the Acton family died some years ago and at one time they were one of the best known and most popular families in Castlebar. Their land is now farmed by Michael McDonnell, Manulla, whose mother was a member of the Acton family.
There were four sons in the Acton family, Peter, Michael, John and Robert and two daughters, Delia and Elizabeth. Their parents were John and Elizabeth Acton.

One of Acton lads held an executive position with the firm of Lucas, Dublin, one of the biggest suppliers of car parts in the Republic; another of the sons worked in St. Mary's Hospital, a close friend of Tom Moran, Castle Street, father of the late Joe Moran, chief executive officer with the ESB; Billy Moran, Galway, and Annette Warde, Cashel Park, Castlebar.
Robert Acton worked in the post office engineering branch and was a fine footballer with Castlebar Mitchels; Michael, whom I knew well, worked on the farm, a quiet but well-read man. Staball Hill, Castlebar
The only other property in the townland of Cloonagh is owned by the Dixon family, Claremorris, two of whom, Henry and Jack, were well known footballers. Henry won All-Ireland medals with Mayo in 1950 and 1951.
Dixons bought their property from George Blaine who later owned the Brown Cow pub on Thomas Street, now known as Stacks, which is run by Frank McHale, Parke, former well-known sportsman and trainer of the Parke team, which won a Connaught junior title last year. His son Fintan has played with distinction for Castlebar Celtic and is also a fine Gaelic footballer.

The townland of Cloonagh has an interesting history, particularly from an educational point of view, as there was an academy located there at one time. It was run, I understand, by a man named Staunton, but little is known about the academy. Local historian Ernie Sweeney says there was a nunnery based in Cloonagh at one time.
Prior to the building of the Castlebar/Westport railway line a road ran from the St. Mary's side of the track to Cloonagh. There is an outline of a road close to the golf links opposite St. Anthony's School which was probably laid at the time of the building of St. Mary's Hospital.
The engineer in charge of the construction of the railway line was a Dublin man named Kelly who lived at Rosmailey House, Rosbeg, Westport. The house was later purchased by the Shanley family, Westport, and in recent years was owned by the Western Care Association.

Across the railway line from Saleen is an area known as Langstons Hill. One of the Langston family was rector at Christ Church, Castlebar, many years ago. Langstons Hill was a popular meeting place for courting couples in times past.
The hill is opposite an area we called the Hazel Wood, a great source of timber when fuel was scarce in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
History is all round us if we care to look a little more closely at the landscape.
After all, the best things in life are free.

Mikie Feeney, soccer coach
Mikie Feeney, who comes from McHale Road, Castlebar, is now in his 80s, a proud son of Castlebar who has spent close on 60 years in England. He is son of the late Hughie and Adele Feeney, McHale Road, and brother of Mary Joe Rooney, McHale Road. His brother Patsy, popularly known as 'Bisto', died some years ago, a fine soccer player and a member of the Castlebar Celtic team which won the Connaught Junior Cup in 1955 when they beat Galway Bohs 3-2 in Terryland Park, Galway.
Many men who played major roles in promoting soccer in Castlebar in the past have been largely forgotten; others, and rightly so, have been honoured for their contribution to the game.

After Mikie Feeney was demobbed from the Irish Army in the late 1940s, he returned to Castlebar to live with his parents in McHale Road. The first thing Mikie did with his gratuity was to buy a football for the local youth. This was the first time we had a standard size football and we viewed it with amazement. I still have a mental picture of its shiny brown leather; unlike the modern football it had to be pumped by hand and the nozzle tucked inside and kept in place by a special lace.
Before Mikie Feeney came on the scene, Pat Devaney made footballs for us from rags and other materials. I remember Pat as a fine musician, a wonderful trumpet player.
A bunch of young lads from McHale Road trotted down to the Fairgreen on Saturday mornings where Mikie Feeney coached us in the rudiments of soccer. Mikie was a good coach, a man with infinite patience. He taught us a lot about soccer and the value of good sportsmanship and good manners.

I have happy memories of those far-off days and the fatherly manner in which Mikie Feeney looked after us. He is still going strong and visits Castlebar each year. Mikie's wife was a lovely lady named Wynne from Boyle, Co. Roscommon. The couple were married close on 60years but Mikie's wife passed away some time ago.
In the 1940s and 1950s young lads had very little money and sport was our only outlet. There was a lot of poverty around in those days, much worse than the current economic state of our country. But sport was a great diversion and meant a lot to young people.
Today it is much the same and many people give of their time and talents to encourage young people in sport. The code doesn't really matter. The important thing is that youngsters take an interest in kicking a ball about.
Thank God for sport and for committed people like Mickie Feeney. They are the real backbone of our communities, the genuine heroes who go about their work in a quiet manner.

Eddie Maye, dentist and inventor
I have written in the past about Eddie May from Turlough, Castlebar, dentist and inventor. Practical demonstrations of some of his inventions were held in the Erris Hotel, Castle Street. This was back in the 1950s and 1960s and the demonstrations attracted large attendances. Most people came for the craic and all sorts of devilment took place. Eddie was popularly known as 'Reweinee' and I have a feeling it was Tommy Gillespie, editor of The Connaught Telegraph at the time, who conferred this name on Eddie.

Eddie was a regular visitor to The Connaught Telegraph and promised the younger members of the staff he would bestow thousands of pounds on them when his inventions were patented. Alas, the inventions never reached the patent stage, and I can tell you they included a number of strange gadgets relating to bikes and motor cars.
Eddie's little house in Turlough still stands, a reminder of a more carefree age when Reweinee's life revolved around inventions rather than extracting teeth.
I was recently given part of a poem which was written to mark one of Eddie's inventions. The lines in the poem are as follows:

 

Our great Urban Council
Has bought a new tractor
For cleaning the streets
It is a great factor

It goes round the town
With noise like a cannon
Followed by Máirtín
And the bould Jimmy Gannon

When going round the Mall
one day
At just a walking pace
Out stepped the bould
Reweinee Maye
And launched it into space
And when Bulganin saw it
As it passed among the stars
He said to Mr. Khrushchev:
We are pipped by Castlebar.

The Jimmy Gannon referred to in the poem was a member of the outdoor staff of Castlebar Urban Council for many years; the Máirtín mentioned in the poem is probably Martin Lydon, a neighbour of Jimmy Gannon's in Staball.

Dr. Conway and Staball
Michael Conway, who came from Staball, Castlebar, was consultant psychiatrist in St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, Dublin, for many years. He was sister of the late Kathleen Gannon, St. Patrick's Avenue, Castlebar, and uncle of Pat Gannon, St. Patrick's Avenue, Castlebar, and Marguerite Gannon, a member of the Western Care staff based in Newport.
As well as being an eminent psychiatrist, he was also a keen local historian with an immense pride in his native Protestant Church in CastlebarCastlebar. He always referred to Thomas Street as Staball Hill and spoke with great feeling about his old neighbours, Frank Blake, Toby, James and Sonny Comer, the Lydons, Gavins, Paddy and Joe Kilroy and 'Tiny' Conway. I remember 'Tiny' Conway and, despite his nickname, he was fine big man.

Michael Conway once told me one of his teachers was John Hoban, Newport Road, for whom he had great respect and taught local history in a very simple fashion, particularly as it related to 1798 and the Races of Castlebar.
People often ask me the origin of the name Staball. As I understand it, when the Redcoats were being chased down Thomas Street, by the Irish insurgents, armed with pikes, in 1798, the local householders shouted 'stab them all', hence the name Staball.
Gallows Hill has been absorbed into Rathbawn, which is a pity. There are many towns in the country with the title Gallows Hill. In many of those areas there were hanging trees, a dark reminder of the past which we sometimes likes to forget.

Castlebar's Robinson Crusoe
There are many people in Castlebar who remember Larry Kelly's shop in Springfield in a house now occupied by Jim and Josie Cunniffe. Larry Kelly was a member of Castlebar Urban Council and had two sons, one of whom joined the De La Salle Order. Another son, Freddie, served in the Royal Air Force and received much publicity many years ago when he adopted a Robinson Crusoe lifestyle and lived in isolation in an island off the west coast. Freddie was a handsome man and his flowing beard certainly gave him the aura of a Robinson Crusoe.
Larry Kelly's shop has long since disappeared but local people, particularly those from Springfield and the Moneen area have fond memories of Mrs. Kelly, popularly known as 'Blue Bib', because she always wore a blue bib.

 

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