People
- A monument stands on the Mall in memory of Major John MacBride. Born locally in 1865, he joined the Boer army which fought the British in the Second Boer War, rising to the rank of major. He was executed in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising. He was the father of Sean MacBride, the Nobel peace laureate.
- Cornelius Coughlan who won the Victoria Cross in the service of the British Army is buried locally.
- Irish writer George A. Birmingham (real name James Hannay) was the Protestant rector in Westport for a number of years. He infamously caused a riot in the town when his successful play General John Regan was staged there and the locals began recognising, to their disdain, that the characters were based on themselves.
Read more about this topic: Westport, County Mayo
Famous quotes containing the word people:
“It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)
“In the past, as now, Haiti’s curse has been her politicians. There are still too many men of influence in the country who believe that a national election is a mandate from the people to build themselves a big new house in Petionville and Kenscoff and a trip to Paris.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“The ground for taking ignorance to be restrictive of freedom is that it causes people to make choices which they would not have made if they had seen what the realization of their choices involved.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)