Ballycastle, County Mayo

This article is about the village of Ballycastle, County Mayo. For the town in Country Antrim, see Ballycastle, County Antrim.

Ballycastle Baile an Chaisil
Village
The R314 road passing through Ballycastle
Ballycastle Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°16′47″N 9°22′21″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Connacht
County	County Mayo
Elevation	78 m (256 ft)
Population  (2016)[1]	219
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference	G104378

Ballycastle (Irish: Baile an Chaisil, meaning 'town of the fort')^[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

Bay look out at DownPatrick Head

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.^[3] The name Ballycastle was in use as early as 1470 and was referred to as a parish in the Catholic directory of 1836.^[4]

Notable people

See also: Category:People from Ballycastle, County Mayo

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

Events

Ballycastle is host to Healyfest, a music event which takes place in a pub in the village on each August Bank Holiday.^[7]

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References

1. "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Ballycastle". Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 23 March 2018.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. "Baile an Chaisil/Ballycastle". Placenames Database of Ireland. Government of Ireland - Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dublin City University. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
3. "Ballycastle History, Co. Mayo, in the West of Ireland | mayo-ireland.ie". www.mayo-ireland.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
4. Ballycastle Website. Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Causeway Coastal Route. Accessed 12 March 2012.
5. Ballycastle in County Mayo in the West of Ireland. mayo.ireland.ie. Accessed 12 March 2012.
6. "Commuter, Rural & Local Services – Mayo". Bus Éireann. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
7. "All change as pub drops Bitcoin". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2020.

External links

• Family History in Ballycastle