Take me back to Castlebar
In the county of Mayo!
It’s the only place in Ireland
I’m longing for to go!
They greet you with a friendly smile
And bid you time of day.
When I set my foot in old Mayo
I never more will stray! – Unknown
Woolly says – We’d arrived in County Mayo and spent the night in the town of Castlebar.
Castlebar (meaning ‘Barry’s Castle’) is the county town of County Mayo, developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name.
I had planned an easy day for us with only one stop so that we could rest up which proved to be much needed as Jo had awoken with a streaming cold and the rain was pouring down. A short drive away was the National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park which had been established in 2001, the museum is Ireland’s only national museum outside Dublin. The museum exhibits the way of life of rural Irish people between 1850 and 1950 and is in the grounds of Turlough Park House.
Having parked up we walked past the rather impressive house, the current house was designed by Thomas Newenham Deane, and built from 1863 to 1867 when it was owned by the Fitzgerald family of Turlough. There were lovely views across the lake with an interesting looking witch type character made of willow.
In 1991, the house and 36 acres were purchased by the Mayo County Council. The house was renovated and an adjacent museum building was constructed in the slope of a hill above a pond. The Country Life Museum opened in September 2001. The modern building was free to get into which is always a bonus, but it was smaller than I had expected. Starting on the bottom floor we wandered through lots of displays on farming including how peat was extracted and that many farmers of the 18th century were also fishermen, life must have been incredibly tough for them.
A lovely display of black and white photographs lined one wall showing people going about there day dressed in traditional clothing.
On the next floor were displays about life in the home including mock set ups of kitchens and laundry’s, along with all sorts of pots and pans.
We came to a whole section about straw and how it had been used to construct not just the cottage rooves but mattresses, horse collars, symbols and decorations, who knew that straw could be so useful.
We were drawn to some displays detailing festivals land how the Irish had celebrated them including scary Halloween masks and the mummers which I had heard of previously.
A small cabinet told us about Irish travellers, and I was astonished to find that the rounded caravan used by them were actually Welsh by origin, who knew.
The last sections provided information on leisure times including the national sport of hurling and a rather cool spot called soapbox racing which meant having mammoth sized cars, I would have loved that and wondered if it was something that Santa might be able to provide me with, I will add it to my list.
With the museum completed and Jo wilting badly we set off to find a chemist for supplies so that she can function tomorrow. The journey gave us time to chat about some of the differences we had found in between Ireland and the UK, so here goes….
Houses – I would say that 95% of the houses and buildings we had seen on our travels so far were immaculate, looking as though they had only been painted days ago with manicured lawns and trimmed borders and hedges. We had pondered if there might be some rules for buildings in the country to be kept like this but on googling we found it was just that the Irish had pride in their homes and towns, we loved it and so wished we had more of that in the UK.
Alcohol – Is only sold between 10.30 am and 10pm in supermarkets and you have to go through a gate to get in and out. When you do buy any form of alcoholic drink it is put in a brown bag without fail, we surmised that this might be to do with the religious aspect of the country and not wanting the priest to see what you had bought!
Driving – The roads are incredible and so far, we have only seen two potholes, where Jo and I live there are hundreds on some roads and Zoe has even more to deal with in her town.
Learner drivers have the usual L plate that we have but they also have N plates for new drivers which have to be on the vehicle for two years following passing the driving test which we felt was a fantastic idea.
One thing that we haven’t liked quite so much is that no one waves as a thank you for letting them out of roads, waiting for them to cross etc etc which we find difficult, and we have had some odd looks for doing it ourselves.
And finally, men on broomsticks…I know they are men with shovels really indicating road works but from a distance they really do look like men on broomsticks and it’s become our favourite hobby to shout ‘Men on Broomsticks’ every time we pass one.
So, with that I’m off to enjoy our cabin for the evening and say hello to the cutest cow ever before we spend our last few hours in Ireland for a bit and cross over the border.