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| CATHOLIC CHURCH, CASTLEBAR, CO. MAYO. -The town of Castlebar emerged from comparative obscurity during "the troubles" of 1798, when it was occupied for two weeks by the French and Irish forces under General Humbert. Some account of the battles, generally called "the reaces" of Castlebar, has been given in another sketch. This place is the chief town of the great county Mayo-Gaelic Magh-eo (Joyce) or Mageo (Bede) meaning "the Plain of the Yew Trees." It is said that the renowned "Saint Colman, an Irish monk, having retired from the see of Lindisfarne, returned to his native country and erected a monastery at a place called Magheo, in which he settled a number of English monks whom he had brought over with him. For many ages afterward," continues Dr. Joyce, "this monastery was constantly resorted to by monks from Britain, and hence it is generally called in the Annals, Magheo-na-Saxon-Mayo of the Saxons. The ruins of the old abbey still remain at the village, and from this place the county Mayo derives its name." Our sketch shows the chief Catholic Church of Castlebar, with a group of school children and their teachers in the foreground. The edifice is plain, but commodious and comfortable. Castlebar is one of the most throughly Catholic towns in Ireland, the number of Protestants being quite small. All creeds live there in perfect harmony, as they do in all places in Ireland where Catholics predominate. |
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