Westport (Ireland)
Westport ( Irish Cathair na Mart 'city of the oxen' ) is a town in County Mayo on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland . It is located at the southeast end of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, and has 6198 inhabitants (as of 2016). Westport is one of the few scheduled cities in the country. The city center consists of an ensemble of Georgian style townhouses. The mall, a tree-lined promenade on both sides of Carrowbeg, is particularly picturesque .
history
Westport is the unusual case of a planned city for Ireland. The village of Cathair na Mart , originally located here, was replaced by the current town in the 1780s. Lord Sligo commissioned the English architect James Wyatt for this . The town was intended to be the home of the people employed at Westport House. Westport House was built around 1730 by the German architect Richard Cassels for the Browne family. Wyatt gave the building its current appearance and designed the dining room of the house.
On June 8, 1879, at the height of a severe agrarian crisis, Charles Stewart Parnell gave a speech at a land meeting in Westport which would prove to be a milestone in the history of the Irish peasant movement as well as the Irish national movement. Farm workers and small tenants flocked to this land meeting in Westport, who, as a result of poor harvests, especially potatoes, could no longer pay their rent and who threatened to be displaced by the British landowners despite the impending famine . Parnell's call not to be chased away from home (" Hold a firm grip of your homesteads and lands! ") Was the trigger for the establishment of the Irish Land League on October 21 of the same year. In addition, the speech in Westport was an important step in the political career of Parnell, who took over the leadership of the Home Rule League the following year .
tourism
Westport is a tourist attraction for several reasons. The most important is the beautiful landscape of the area and the proximity to Connemara , Achill Island , Clew Bay and Croagh Patrick .
- Croagh Patrick Mountain, a famous pilgrimage destination, is 10 kilometers west of the city near the village of Murrisk . It represents a striking background of the cityscape. The small chapel on the summit can be seen with the naked eye.
- One of the city's great feasts is the Feast of Corpus Christi , on which the Holy of Holies is carried in procession through the streets of the city.
- The city offers opportunities for deep sea fishing. The nearby lakes Lough Mask and Lough Carra and the River Eriff are also popular fishing spots.
- Westport House, with its animal and bird park, which is particularly interesting for children, is a magnet for families. Many of them spend the night on the associated campsite.
- The pub of the internationally known folk flutist Matt Molloy , where concerts or sessions take place (almost) every evening, is an attraction, especially for lovers of Irish folk music .
- There is an 18-hole golf course.
traffic
Westport is the terminus of the Dublin railway line , which also runs through Castlebar , the capital of County Mayo. Until 1977 the railway line led to Westport Quay. There used to be a branch line to Achilles. This was shut down in 1937.
The N5 national road ends in Westport and connects the city with Castlebar and then with Dublin via the N4. The other major road through Westport is the N59 . It leads across County Mayo to Sligo . To the south it runs through Connemara to Galway .
The Regional Airport Knock is about 60 kilometers away.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Francis Stewart Leland Lyons: Ireland since the famine. 10th edition, Fontana Press, London 1987, ISBN 0-00-686005-2 , p. 166.
- ^ Theodore W. Moody: Fenianism, Home Rule, and the Land War (1850-91). In: Theodore W. Moody, Francis Xavier Martin (Eds.): The course of Irish history. 17th edition. Mercier Press, Cork 1987, ISBN 0-85342-715-1 , pp. 275-294, here p. 285.
Coordinates: 53 ° 48 ′ N , 9 ° 31 ′ W