History
Westport originates and gets its name, in Irish, from a 16th century castle--Cathair na Mart (meaning: The Stone Fort of the Beeves or The City of The Fairs)--and surrounding settlement, belonging to the powerful local seafaring Ó Máille Clan, who controlled the Clew Bay area, then known as Umaill.
The original village of Cathair na Mart existed somewhere around what is now the front (East) lawn of Westport House. It had a high street, alleys down to the river and a population of around 700. It was moved to its present site in the 1780s by the Browne family of Westport House, who also renamed it Westport.
Westport is designated as a heritage town and is unusual in Ireland in that it is one of only a few planned towns in the country. The design of the town is attributed to James Wyatt, an English architect. He also completed Westport House, the stately home of the Marquess of Sligo and designed its dining room. Westport House had originally been built by Richard Cassels, the German architect, in the 1730s, on the site of the original Ó Máille Castle. The dungeons of the Ó Máille castle still remain. The most notable feature of James Wyatt's town plan is the tree-lined boulevard, the Mall, built on the Carrowbeg River.
Read more about this topic: Westport, County Mayo
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“Spain is an overflow of sombreness ... a strong and threatening tide of history meets you at the frontier.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)