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 Westport
Westport, winner of the 2001 national 'Tidy Towns'
competition, is one of two planned towns in Ireland and
is one of the most attractive destinations to visit. It
is unique in its character, blending the traditional and
the modern. Westport offers a wide selection
of high quality restaurants,excellent shopping facilities
and lively pubs with traditional music. For the sporty types
there are numerous swimming pools and gyms scattered around
the town.
Fishing
Every
known species of fish existing in Irish waters has been
caught in Clew Bay! Boats can be chartered with ease for
angling and crusing in one of the best locations in Europe.
 For the coarse fishing enthusiasts,
there are a miriad of lakes within driving distance of Westport.
Mayo boasts some of the best salmon and brown trout in Europe
with the River Moy fishery within an hours drive. Both advanced
and less experienced fisherman are accomodated with ghillies,
boats and fly fishing instruction readily available.
 The Islands
Clew
Bay is said to have 365 island, 'one for every day of
the year'. Clare Island, once home of the ledgendary pirate
queen Grainne Uaile, dominates the horizon. Ferries run
daily in the summer as do ferries to Inishbofin and Inishturk.
 Sailing,
Watersports and Beaches
Mayo posesses some of the most beautiful, biggest
and safest beaches in Europe and as you would expect, there
are an abundance of watersports available to the entusiast.Choose
between sailing, scuba diving, canoeing, surfing and snorkelling.
 Golf
Westport's is the ideal base for a golfing holiday.
The Golf Club boasts a 260 acre, 18 hole championship course
which has hosted the Irish Amateur Close Championship on
3 Separate occasions. To play on a challenging and well
designed course, under the shadow of Croagh Patrick is any
golfers dream.
There are other 18 hole golf courses within an hours drive.
These include Enniscorone, Castlebar, Ballinrobe, Conamara
and Carne (Bellmullet). There are also ten 9 hole golf courses
within easy reach, Clew Bay by the sea being one of the
most spectacluar.
The Tóchar Valley
 A beautiful
area of rural communities stretching from Balla to Murrisk,
at the foot of Croagh Patrick, "Ireland's Holy Mountain".
Steeped in antiquity, the unspoiled countryside is liberally
sprinkled with churches, Celtic artifacts and historical
sites. The Tóchar Phádraig pilgrim route, which links these
townlands and villages for a distance of 55km., is the ancient
pilgrim pathway to Croagh Patrick.
 Ballintubber Abbey This
13th century abbey is unique, not only is it the only
church in Ireland still in use which was founded by an Irish
King, but it is also the one Irish church where for over
781 years Mass has been offered without a break. Its story
is graphically told in a video documentary on show at the
abbey. Founded in 1216 by the last King of Connaught, Cathal
Crovdearg O'Connor, for the Canons Regular of St. Augustine
order, the Abbey had large tracts of land in the district
until the dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VII.
Retreats, pilgrimages and tours are available today. The
Celtic Furrow Visitors Centre provides guided tours of the
region, tracing 5,000 years of Irish culture.
 Knock Shrine & Folk
Museum
On 22
August 1879 fifteen local people saw a vision of Mary
the Mother of Christ. Two church commissions examined the
claim- "The claim was 'trustworthy and satisfactory'". Now
Knock Shrine is one of the major Marian Shrines of the world.
Pope John Paul II traveled to Knock as a pilgrim in 1979.
Each year over 1.3 million pilgrims travel to the shrine
from all over the world. Knock Folk Museum documents the
story of the Knock Apparition of 1879 and places it in the
context of the lifestyle of the people, their traditions
and customs at the time. Permanent displays range from religious
to fishing, farming, crafts and skills, education, housing,
clothing and transport.
 Céide Fields
The Céide Fields, Ballycastle are the oldest known
field systems in the world, over five and a half millennia
old. It is a unique Neolithic landscape of world importance,
which has changed our perception of our Stone Age ancestors.
The remains of stone field walls, houses and megalithic
tombs are preserved beneath a blanket of peat over several
square miles. They tell a story of the everyday lives of
a farming people, their organized society, their highly
developed spiritual beliefs, and their struggle against
a changing environment beyond their control. Visit the multi-award
winning Centre, which has exhibitions, audio-visual show
and tearooms.
Museum of Country Life
 Turlough Park, Castlebar. Here you can immerse
yourself in the lives of our rural ancestors from the mid
- 19th to the mid - 20th centuries. Lifestyles which were
established for several hundred years came to an end well
into living memory, and here amidst furniture and fittings,
the tools they used to work the land and the clothes and
textiles they wore, you can reach out and touch those vanished
lives.
Turlough Park is the site of the first de Burgo castle and
the impressive High Victorian Gothic style house was built
in 1865 by the Fitzgeralds, who farmed the surrounding land.
Today the museum offers guided tours, an audio - visual
exhibition, lectures, workshops, special events, family
days, a museum shop & cafe.
 Westport House
Mayo's only stately home is surrounded by acres of
idyllic parklands. During the summer months this is an ideal
centre for a day visit for the family. There are flume rides,
a childrens zoo, train rides, pitch and putt and much more.
Other Activities include clay pigeon shooting, horse-riding,
tennis, squash and cycling.
For more information on any of the above please do not
hesitate to ask. |
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