Time zone WET (UTC+0) Elevation 60 m | Irish Grid Reference G479019 Local time Friday 12:59 PM Number of airports 1 | |
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Weather 4°C, Wind NE at 18 km/h, 100% Humidity | ||
Charlestown (Irish: Baile Chathail) is a town in County Mayo, Ireland, contiguous with Bellaghy, County Sligo, at the crossroads of the N17 and N5.
Contents
Map of Charlestown, Co. Mayo, Ireland
History
Charlestown was built in the mid-19th century on the initiative of Lord Dillon's agent, Charles Strickland, adjoining Bellaghy in County Sligo. The town now has a population of approximately 800.
There are two schools in Charlestown, St. Attracta's National School and St.Joseph's Marist Convent.
The village was the subject of a serialised social commentary in The Irish Times by John Healy. This was later published as Death Of An Irish Town, and later republished as No One Shouted Stop! Written in 1967, it was highly critical of government policies towards rural areas, and took Charlestown as an example solely because it was the town of the author's birth.
Sport
Gaelic Football team Charlestown Sarsfields reached the All-Ireland club semi-final in 2001, losing out on a final spot by two points.
In 2012 the town's sporting offering was complemented with the formation of Charlestown Boxing Club. In a relatively short time, the club has successfully acquired numerous county and provincial titles, 1 National championship title and 3 Runner's-Up. It's boxers have also been selected to represent Co. Mayo in inter-county competition.
Transport
Trains ran through Charlestown from 1895 through 1963. The village had a station on the GS&W line from Claremorris to Collooney, part of the Western Railway Corridor. Charlestown station opened on 1 October 1895, closed for passenger traffic on 17 June 1963, and finally closed altogether on 3 November 1975.
People
Charlestown was the home town of Irish Times and Western People journalist John Healy who wrote a series of articles about the town which were later turned into a book, No One Shouted Stop. The owner of the Freeman's Journal, Irish Senator Martin FitzGerald, was born on Main Street, Charlestown. Michael O'Doherty, Archbishop of Manila, was born in Charlestown, and it was also the home town of Margaret Sweeney, grandmother of Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. On another note James Colgan will be visiting this summer. Kitty Egan who immigrated to Princeton, NJ in 1953 was born in Charlestown County Mayo. She was an avid and competitive tennis player, and opened a business in Princeton NJ, which she ran until her passing in May,1999. Kitty was one of eight children born to Thomas and Bridget Egan. Thomas Egan was a retired Captain in the Irish National Army and ran a dairy farm that had been in the Egan family for many years. Kitty, as well all of her family were born in the family's dairy farm house. She had three sisters and four brothers born at Laveymore; Sean, an accountant, Paurick who ran the farm , Liam a Garda Superintendent in Dublin and a prosperous farmer after his retirement, and Tom a retail consultant in San Francisco, California. Her sisters Maureen, a school teacher retired, Breda before marrying, was Food & Beverage Manager at the University Club now a housewife and mother, and Eileen, Cabin crew, with Pan American World Airways, and Flight Purser, for 26 years.