Signs that busy Mayo street is fighting back against decline

by Auld Stock

I RECENTLY had a chat with a man from Swinford who bemoaned the fact that many old businesses had disappeared from Main Street, Castlebar.

The man told me that as a youngster his parents frequently travelled to Castlebar to do their shopping.

He was saddened to see Lavelles bakery had fallen into disrepair. He could vividly recall their famous slogan, ‘Lavelles bread, the best in the west.’

He was a close friend of Tommy Feeney, Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, who drove Lavelles delivery van for many years.

This man’s wife was a friend of retired Nurse Peggy McNulty, Marian Row, Castlebar, a native of Swinford, who gave dedicated service in the County Hospital some years ago.

Peggy is a nice lady who is popular with her friends and neighbours.

The man from Swinford told me his parents occasionally had a drink in the Bungalow Bar, Main Street, at that time owned by Michael Dunleavy, who came from Straide.

‘Michael’s right hand man was Martin Hopkins who came from Ballinaglough, near Snugboro,’ he told me. With the coming of large supermarkets, business has moved from many of the old shopping streets in towns.

However, a number of new businesses have opened on the Main Street in Castlebar and more are on the way.

*Ballinaglough, from the Irish, meaning ‘town of the rocks,’ is close to Rathbawn.