Using Castlebar as a Base: Day Trips into the West of Mayo

The middle of everything

One of the quiet advantages of Castlebar is location. As the county town, it sits roughly in the middle of Mayo, well connected by road and rail, which makes it a sensible and often cheaper base for exploring the more famous corners of the county. From here you are within easy reach of the Atlantic coast, the mountains, the lakes and a surprising amount of history, without having to move hotel every night.

West to Westport and Clew Bay

The obvious first trip is west to Westport, around twenty minutes away on the N5. Westport is one of Ireland's most attractive planned towns, with its tree-lined Mall along the Carrowbeg river and a lively food and pub scene. From there, Clew Bay opens out towards the Atlantic, famously dotted with small islands, and the great cone of Croagh Patrick rises above the southern shore.

Croagh Patrick, the Reek, is Ireland's holy mountain, climbed by pilgrims and walkers alike. Even if you do not fancy the full ascent, the visitor centre at Murrisk and the views across Clew Bay are reward enough for the drive. A day spent between Westport town, the bay and the foot of the Reek is one of the best in the west, and Castlebar puts it within comfortable reach.

North to Turlough and the museum

You do not have to go far for a rewarding day. Just northeast of town, the National Museum of Ireland, Country Life sits in the grounds of Turlough Park. It is the only national museum outside Dublin, admission is free, and the way of rural Irish life it documents, from 1850 to 1950, makes it one of the most worthwhile stops in the county. The 9th-century round tower on the hill above the grounds adds a thousand years of history to the visit, and you can reach the whole thing on the traffic-free greenway from Lough Lannagh.

South to boycott country

For something more unusual, head south towards Lough Mask, the lakeland that gave the English language one of its most useful words. It was here, on the estate Captain Charles Boycott managed for Lord Erne, that the local community ostracised him in the autumn of 1880 after he refused to lower rents following a poor harvest. Following Charles Stewart Parnell's call to shun such men rather than attack them, labourers withdrew their work, the blacksmith and postman would not serve him, and shops in nearby Ballinrobe turned him away. By November 1880, The Times of London was using his name as a verb, and within twenty years boycott had entered dictionaries around the world. The Lough Mask and Ballinrobe area south of Castlebar is where that story unfolded.

Planning your base

For a weekend, the pattern that works well is simple: spend your first day on Castlebar itself, the Mall, the 1798 history and the town's restaurants, and your second day out west to Westport, Clew Bay and Croagh Patrick, with the Turlough museum slotted in on either day. Castlebar is on the Dublin to Westport rail line and well served by Bus Éireann, so you can do a good deal of this without a car, though your own wheels open up the lakeland to the south. Whichever way you travel, the county town earns its keep as a base for the west of Mayo.