From the archives: Mayo in olden times

PART ONE

By Tom Gillespie

IN the last edition of The Connaught Telegraph of 1939 - December 30 - a feature appeared headed ‘Mayo in olden times’, tracing the history of 12 locations in the county.

CASTLEBAR

So far back as 1609 Sir John Bingham, ancestor of Lord Lucan, obtained for Castlebar the grant for market and fair.

James I granted the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, under which the government of the town was vested in a portreeve, 15 ‘free burgesses’ and a commonalty with power to hold a Court of Record every Monday for the recovery of debt not exceeding five marks.

The charter also conferred upon the portreeve and ‘free burgesses’ the right of returning two members to the Irish Parliament and in the year 1620 the inhabitants received a grant of a second fair.

In the autumn of 1798, the French, under the command of General Humbert, having landed in the bay of Kilcummin (Killala) on August 22, made themselves masters of that place and proceeded to Ballina, of which they took possession on the 24th. On the 26th they hunted the English troops from Castlebar, of which they held possession for several days, the rout being still well known in song and story as ‘The Races of Castlebar’.

These events are commemorated by monuments at Ballina and Frenchill, Castlebar.

In 1824 the population of Castlebar was 5,120. The public buildings of the town were ‘the castle’, which stood on a commanding situation, occupied as a barracks, the jail, a fine courthouse, another barracks, the county infirmary, a linen hall, a public shambles, a fine spacious (Protestant) church with a lofty steeple, a Catholic chapel, and a Methodist meeting-house.

There was a distillery and a brewery, but the chief support of the town was an extensive market, particularly for linen, which was held on Saturday.

In 1831 the population was 6,373. The linen manufacture, which was formerly much more extensive, was still carried on, and a considerable quantity of linen and linen yarn was sold in the Linenhall.

There was a tobacco, snuff, soap and candle manufactory, and a brewery, and in 1836 the general trade of the town, with the exception of the linen trade, was improving.

A branch of the Agricultural and Commercial Bank of Ireland had been established in the town, which was also a chief constabulary and revenue police station.

Under the Charter of James I the town continued up to the Union when the borough was disfranchised and the sum of £15,000 awarded as a ‘compensation’ was paid to Richard, Earl of Lucan.

From that period until 1824 the Corporation occasionally elected officers, but exercised little to no magisterial jurisdiction, and the Court of Record was shortly afterwards discontinued.

The old County Jail, which stood where Mayo University Hospital is today, was erected in 1834 at an expense of £23,000. In 1835 the average number of prisoners wa s181, and the total expense of the jail in that period was £2,083 1s. 3½d.

The parish of Aglish in 1831 contained 11,105 inhabitants. The principal seats in the parish in 1836 were Castlebar House, the residence of the Earl of Lucan; Spencer Park, that of Major O’Malley, D.L.; Mountgordon, of Mr. Patrick Boyd; Ballynew, of Rev. H. Paisley, J.P.; and Rocklands, of Mr. John C. Larmine.

Many of the inhabitants were employed quarrying excellent limestone used for building, and turf was carried by water for several miles to the town through the lake and Castlebar river.

A Manorial Court, at which debts to any amount were recoverable, was formally held by a sencehal appointed by Lord Lucan but had been discontinued for some years.

The Protestant Church was erected in 1828 by aid of a gift of £2,000 from the Board of First Fruits. A Protestant school was erected in the town at the expense of £220.

At Castlebar and Cloonkeen there were 'national’ schools, to one of which Lord Lucan gave an annual donation of £10. In these schools there were about 370 boys and 300 girls, and there were also eight pay-schools, in which were 200 boys and 70 girls.

According to the census of 1901 the population of the town had decreased to 3,595, not much more than half its number in 1831.

BALLINROBE

In the 1830s Ballinrobe parish had a population of 8,923 inhabitants, of which number 2,604 were in the town, which contained 441 houses.

A monastery for the Friars of the Order of St. Augustine was founded there some time prior to 1337, in which year it's mentioned in the Registry of the Dominion Friary of Athenry, under the name of De Roba.

In 1837 a large trade was carried on in corn and large quantities of wheat and potatoes, the latter of excellent quality, were sold in the town.

There was a large flour mill, extensive brewery, and a malting establishment and a tan yard, all in full operation. There was a patent for a manorial court, but none was held.

Among the gentlemen’s seats in the parish were those of Mr. Geoffrey Martin, of Curramore, pleasantly situated on Lough Mask, and on the same lake, Cuslough House, formerly the seat of Lord Tyrawelly and then (in 1837) of Mr. R. Livesy, and the Creagh residents of Mr. J. Cuff.

On Lough Carra was Lake View, the residence of Mrs. Blake. Rose Villa was the seat of Mr. Courtney Kenny, in the Demesne of which and on the banks of the river are the remains of the abbey; Lavelle House, then residence of Mr. R. Fair; Spring Villa of Mr. Henry Joseph Blake; and Cluna Castle, of Mr. J. Gildea.

The Catholic Church in Ballinrobe was a large slated building, with a lofty square tower, which was erected in 1815 by subscription, towards which the then Lord Tyrawelly gave £50 and an acre of land. The Protestant tithes amounted to £480. There was place of worship for Baptists.

Two schools in the town were aided by donation from Mr. C.N. Knox, and afforded instruction to about 200 children; and there were seven private pay-schools in the parish, in which there were about 320 children.

There was also a Sunday school. There was a dispensary in the town, too.

Numerous remains of ancient forts could be traced and on the grounds of Mr. Clendinning and Roycroft were six chalybeate springs.

* Part 2 in next Tuesday's print edition