Ballycastle, County Mayo Explained

Ballycastle
Native Name:Irish: Baile an Chaisil
Native Name Lang:gle
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Ireland
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Ireland
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ireland
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Connacht
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:County Mayo
Unit Pref:Metric
Population As Of:2016
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population:219
Population Density Km2:auto
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:IST (WEST)
Utc Offset1 Dst:-1
Coordinates:54.2797°N -9.3725°W
Elevation M:78
Blank Name:Irish Grid Reference

Ballycastle [2] is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, situated northwest from Ballina, near Mayo's north coast. It lies on the edge of the Mayo Gaeltacht.

Ballycastle is situated on the coast of north County Mayo, with its northern boundary exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. To the west of the town are the Stags of Broadhaven, to the east lies Killala Bay while to the south are the towns of Ballina and Crossmolina.

History

The Céide Fields, approximately 7 km north of Ballycastle, was where the first settlers began to farm the slopes of the Behy/Glenurla hillside, over 5000 years ago.

The parish of Ballycastle is a combination of the two ancient parishes of Kilbride and Doonfeeney. The name Ballycastle was in use as early as 1470 and was referred to as a parish in the Catholic directory of 1836.[3]

Notable people

Notable people from Ballycastle include the Gaelic footballer Tommy Langan who won two All-Ireland Senior Football Championships for Mayo and was named on the Football Team of the Millennium.[4]

Transport

Ballycastle lies at the junction of the R314 and R315 regional roads. Bus Éireann route 445 serves Ballycastle on weekdays to Ballina via Killala.[5]

Events

Ballycastle is host to Healyfest, a music event which takes place in a pub in the village on each August Bank Holiday.[6]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Ballycastle. Central Statistics Office. 2018-03-23.
  2. Web site: Baile an Chaisil/Ballycastle . Placenames Database of Ireland . . 6 July 2018.
  3. http://www.causewaycoastalroute.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=55 Ballycastle Website.
  4. http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/Mayo/Towns/BallyC/BallyC.htm Ballycastle in County Mayo in the West of Ireland
  5. Web site: Commuter, Rural & Local Services – Mayo . . 11 August 2020.
  6. Web site: All change as pub drops Bitcoin . Independent News & Media . independent.ie . 30 September 2014 . 10 August 2020 .