Another important phase in Mayo county town's growth

by Auld Stock

THOSE of us who have reached a certain age and who have lived all our lives in Castlebar occasionally have to pinch ourselves to appreciate the tremendous changes that have taken place in the county town.

In the early years of the 1900s, Castlebar was a typical Irish town.

Lord and Lady Lucan lived in a mansion in the Lawn, overlooking a green sward in the centre of the county town, a place of great beauty, an oasis of peace and serenity.

The annual ball was held in the Town Hall where the landed gentry of the town, their wives and girlfriends attended, the men in their dickie bows and dress suits, the ladies in their flowing gowns.

Those are just a few thoughts of what Castlebar was like 120 years ago.

The building of a new educational centre at the old Vocational School in Newtown marks another important phase in the development of Castlebar.

The first principal in Castlebar Vocational School was a man named Tomás Ó Domhnaill, a pioneer in the development of second level education in Mayo.

Tomás is buried in Castlebar Old Cemetery where a small stone marks his final resting place.

He deserves to be remembered in a more tangible fashion in Mayo.

Tomás was brother of Mary O’Donnell, a member of the clerical staff of Western Hats, Newport Road, Castlebar, a close friend of Tom and Tricia Ketterick, Barrack Bridge, Castlebar, close to where the Brass Castle was located in Feeney’s Field, at the rear of Lucan Street, many years ago.

I have penned those few thoughts about Castlebar as it embarks on another milestone in its development with the building of the new educational centre costing €25 million and catering for one thousand students.

*It is believed the Brass Castle was so named because members of the top brass of the British army were billeted there during their time in Castlebar.