Newtown Street in Mayo's county town in the old days

By Tom Gillespie

THIS is a very old photograph of Newtown Street, Castlebar, long before any housing development took place at the junction of Newport Road and what was to be Marian Row, and before the Vocational School building was erected. The terrible condition of the road left a lot to be desired.

This had to be pre-1933 when building of the Vocational School commenced. Note the single storey buildings on the left, where now large two-storey dwellings stand.

To the left of the photo is the line of trees at Marsh House where Madge Feeney resided.

I remember as a young lad the high walls and trees around the house, which was located across the road from Molloy’s hardware store, with a large yard to the rear, now Brant Rock.

At the bridge beside Molloy’s was a parapet where we youngsters used to fish the river for eels.

There was a slipway down to the river on the opposite bank from Marsh House, where Fiona’s fashion shop was, where we used to go fishing. However, we were too low down to see into the Marsh House property across the river.

We were told there was a circular driveway behind the walls where a horse and coach would deliver and collect the gentry in days gone by.

The high walls made it a very mysterious building to young eyes.

The Cunninghams, Adrianne and Michael, who resided in Market Square, were friends of Madge Feeney who lived in the big house on her own. She was somewhat of a recluse and the Cunninghams brought her groceries, etcetera. Madge Feeney occupied the premises up to the 1960s.

The property lay vacant for many years until it was acquired by Castlebar Urban District Council (UDC).

It was on September 19, 1979, that members of the UDC moved into Marsh House.

The authority had purchased the premises for £18,000 and a further £100,000 was spent in renovating the building into their municipal headquarters.

Council proceedings were conducted in Marsh House up to the disbandment of the town council in 2014 and Irish Water moved into the premises.

Many heated debates, some near fisticuffs, were held in the upstairs chamber, which made it wheelchair unfriendly, as well as historic civic and twinning receptions. The building is now an Educate Together school

Local historian, tour guide and Newtown native Brian Hoban, whose family had a popular and busy grocery shop around where the people are standing in the photo, carried out some research into the history of the building.

He wrote: “At the time when St. Claire O’Malley lived at Marsh House there was a landing stage where the lawn now is.

“In those days people living adjacent to the lake, which was open for boats as far as Islandeady, took farm produce, cattle and turf to Castlebar by water.

“When the roads were made and carts introduced this mode of transport was discontinued. The lake at this time was considerably more extensive.

“When the river from Castlebar to Ballynew Mills was canalised, the lake was reduced in size and Boyd’s Island - where the new bridge on the looped walk is located - became an isthmus.

“The Feeney family in the early part of the 20th century occupied Marsh House. There is a plaque to their memory bearing the inscription: To the memory of Patrick J. and Sarah Feeney, their children Hubert, May, Nellie and Madge.

“The plaque was erected by Lauretta Feeney Biggeln on September 19, 1979.”

As well as Hoban's, Brett's, with a step on the footpath outside, and Hamrock's also operated small shops on the street. Next to Hamrock’s was the Hat Factory field, now a housing estate, and it went all the way down to the town river. A wall ran from Hamrock’s as far as the Hat factory.

The adjacent footpath was one of the smoothest in Castlebar and was a popular location for roller-skating.

Across from the Vocational School was Brett’s Lane, so called because Brett Painters had a storage shed down the lane. At the end of the lane was a rickety wooden bridge over the river and beside it was an outflow pipe from the Hat Factory which deposited different coloured dyes into the stream.

The stream from Marian Row flowed along Newport Road. Several years ago it was piped and is now underground. On the left as you enter the Aldi car park the stream can still be seen entering the main river.

Heneghan’s Guesthouse, now The Olive Tree, and Horkan’s supermarket were popular venues, and there was a ladies hairdresser next door.

Close by was Josie Bourke’s tractor garage. We often climbed over the bridge on this side of the river and made our way to the back garden of the Munster and Leinster Bank (AIB) to rob apples from the orchard.

From the late 1950s or '60s extensive flooding occurred on the River Moy prior to the major arterial drainage scheme that was carried out on the river between 1960 and 1970.

This resulted in Castlebar town river being drained and it dramatically reduced the flow from Lough Lannagh.

Saturday was market day and farmers gathered at nearby Market Square and sold their produce. There was a weigh bridge located under a small slated shelter, around which the market was held.

Times were hard back then, but every family was in the same boat.