Foxy Jack takes to the stage in Westport

Fri, Sep 30, 2016

The world premiere of a newly written play about Major John MacBride Foxy Jack – Giolla Éireann was staged on Wednesday night in the Town Hall Theatre in Westport as part of this year's Westport Arts Festival. The show will also take to the stage again on Sunday night, October 2.

Glow for it at the Mayo Glow Neon Run

Fri, Sep 30, 2016

Scheduled for Saturday October 15 at 8pm Lough Lannagh Lake in Castlebar the Mayo Glow Neon Run is an amazing fun event. You can run or walk, whichever you prefer but most find it hard to resist having a little dance at some point. It is a chance to do something together with your family and friends that will never be forgotten. The Glow Neon Run provides participants with an entertaining way to get healthy and have fun with those they love.

It is so many great things all packaged into one night. The Glow Neon Run is an evening fun event that is totally suitable for everyone from children right up. It is a fun event, and is totally non-competitive. Each course has been deliberately chosen for its suitability for all entrants, so they are all easy routes, approx 5km, and are designed to light up the night with several UV black light glow-zones, upbeat music, and neon participants who are dressed up and ready to have fun.

The taming of the Blue: Act 2

Fri, Sep 30, 2016

The first thing to strike me when I entered Croke Park two weeks ago was that Mayo fans had very obviously and deliberately populated Hill 16 in big numbers. The Blue army’s sense of ownership of the historic terrace, as reinforced during the 2006 ‘Mill at the Hill’, had again been challenged. While mutual respect remains, the Mayo fans’ sense of inferiority and their Dublin counterparts' sense of entitlement have both been eroded to a point where near equilibrium has been reached. The Mayo team too, learned some years back that nothing and no one is sacred in top flight GAA. That understanding did not come in some midnight revelation, but through years of proving it so on the pitch.

There have been several epic tussles between Mayo and Dublin at the latter stages of the championship down the years. The 1955 All-Ireland semi-final between the sides was seen as a foregone conclusion by the national media at least. Though four points to the bad by the first quarter, Mayo rallied when a less mentally sure team would have submitted prematurely to the 1954-55 league winners, and a draw was secured. The replay was no spectacle. Seventy thousand were forced to watch a hard, dour, and dirty encounter in which Mayo keeper Owen Roe O’Neill was knocked out for some minutes. Mayo were dominant in the closing stages but a succession of wides handed the game to their opponents. The final score, Dublin by the slimmest of margins; 1-8 to Mayo’s 1-7.

Fort Wayne Metals Ireland expands operations in Castlebar

Mon, Sep 26, 2016

Fort Wayne Metals Ireland has announced the expansion of its production operations in Castlebar, an investment of €10 million with the addition of 20,000 sq. ft of production floor space in the next year. As a result, they plan to create 40 additional jobs over five years.

Effective Time Management in Social Media comes to GMIT tomorrow

Mon, Sep 26, 2016

Network Mayo and Digital Marketing in Mayo (DMiMayo) are delighted to be joining forces for what promises to be an engaging event entitled “Effective Time Management in Social Media” which takes place tomorrow evening Tuesday next, September 27.

Community Sports Hubs a key priority for Mayo Sports Partnership

Mon, Sep 26, 2016

Development of community sports hubs, jobseeker sports coach training and youth sport leadership programmes, all courtesy of Dormant Account funding, were key outcomes from the 2015 annual report of the Mayo Sports Partnership.

When the Mayo oligarchy ruled all

Fri, Sep 23, 2016

During the Georgian era, powerful Protestant families owned large tracts of land throughout County Mayo and the province of Connacht. The Castlebar based Bingham family, together with the descendants of Sir Arthur Gore (1685-1742), formed a family compact or oligarchy through marriage and blood whereby political appointments and other influential positions would be secured among themselves. In an era when marriage was determined by the spirit of collateral calculation, the children of Sir Arthur Gore and Elizabeth Annesley would cement the oligarchy.

Their son Arthur Gore (1703-73), became the 1st Earl of Arran. A daughter Elizabeth married James Cuffe (1707-62), son of Gerald Cuffe, who built Elmhall and grandson of Sir James Cuffe, who was granted lands in Ballinrobe in 1667. James Cuffe’s (1707-62) uncle through marriage was Sir Henry Bingham (1654-1714), 3rd Baronet of Castlebar. The Bingham baronets became the Earls of Lucan in 1795. Elizabeth and James’s son James Cuffe (1745-1821) became 1st Baron Tyrawley and sat as MP for Mayo from 1768-97. Anne Gore, another daughter of Sir Arthur and Elizabeth, married John Browne (1709-76), 1st Earl of Altamont. The extremely wealthy and powerful families of the Gores, Cuffes, and Brownes were now first cousins and, in turn, the Binghams were inducted into the oligarchy through their relationship to the Cuffes. In County Mayo, being the remotest part of Ireland from intercourse with the interior of the kingdom and the capital, the oligarchy was an essential component of the Crown’s local government system.

Full time and night time courses available at Westport College of Further Education

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

Westport College of Further Education are pleased to announce the autumn night class schedule for 2016. This year they are offering Level 5 FETAC/QQI accredited courses in Agricultural Mechanics, Graphic Design, Boom Sprayer Pesticide Application (Evenings or Saturdays), Digital Photography, Beekeeping, Nutrition, Barbering and level six Web Design. 

€1.3 million funding announced for IWAK not enough says Calleary

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

Ireland West Airport Knock this week received funding of €1,314,000 from the Department of Transport, Tourism, and Sport to support safety and security projects under the Regional Airports Programme 2015-2019.

Last chance to win All Ireland tickets

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

There are thousands still looking for one of those precious All Ireland final tickets. Mayo GAA is giving you one last chance to win one of six precious tickets this evening, while at the same time helping the players' training fund.

Westport United about to realise a long held dream

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

On Sunday week, Westport United will see a dream become reality when its new home ground is officially opened on the Golf Course Road in the town. United is one of the most successful clubs in Mayo soccer, claiming the the biggest competition in junior soccer in the country when they won the FAI Junior Cup back in 2005.

Boiling point reached as water supply gets the all clear

Fri, Sep 16, 2016

After 11 days over 46,500 people in Mayo were able to use their tap water after the boil water notice on the Lough Mask Regional Water Supply Scheme was lifted on Tuesday afternoon. Daily sampling at the source, at the treatment plant and on the network since the boil water notice was issued did not identify any presence of cryptosporidium.

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