Ирландияның Уэстпорт қаласы

Town in County Mayo, Ireland

Westport (, historically anglicised as Cahernamart) is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is at the south east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. Westport is a tourist destination and scores highly for quality of life. It won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times in 2001, 2006 and 2008. In 2012 it won the Best Place to Live in Ireland competition run by The Irish Times. Westport is designated as a heritage town, and is one of only a few planned towns in Ireland. The town centre was laid out in the Georgian architectural style, and incorporates the Carrow Beg river into the design composition. This provides for tree lined promenades (known as The Mall) and several stone bridges. The pilgrimage mountain of Croagh Patrick, known locally as "the Reek", lies some 10 km west of the town near the villages of Murrisk and Lecanvey. The mountain forms the backdrop to the town.

Westport originates and gets its name in the Irish language from a 16th century castle Cathair na Mart (meaning "the stone fort of the beeves" A small port also existed at the mouth of the Carrowbeg river. Roads lead from the village to the west (West Road), the south (Sandy Hill Road) and the east (Old Paddock Road). The intention of John Browne, later the First Earl of Altamont to move the existing Cahernamart settlement to facilitate the landscaping of parklands around Westport House was outlined to Richard Pococke when he visited Browne in 1752. Workmen were to contact Peter Brown Kelly, son of the Earl or the architect William Leeson
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. Unfortunately, the original plans for the town are not available. Its layout follows the medieval principles of urban design introduced by the Normans in the 13th century. A particular feature is the incorporation of the river into the composition, contained for two blocks by low stone walls producing, on each side of the river, tree lined promenades (The Mall) with several stone bridges over the river Carrow Beg. The Malls were built by the First Marquess of Sligo after 1800. William Bald's map of Mayo which Was surveyed between 1809 and 1817, as well as Henry Browne's map from the same period, shows that the basic framework of Westport's streets including the Malls was present.

After the Easter Rising, in Westport over 30 Irish Volunteers and Sinn Fein supporters were arrested by the RIC under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 on the orders of Resident magistrate John Charles Milling and the local District Inspector, Shore. Those arrested included Joe Ring, Tom Derrig and PJ Doris, editor of the Mayo News. They were sent to Frongoch internment camp in Wales. Joe Ring and others were released at Christmas 1916. On 29 March 1919, Milling, resident magistrate to County Mayo since 1915, was killed by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) at his home on Newport Road, Westport. Homes and businesses of IRA families were targeted. The home and business of Charles Hughes, chairman of the Urban District Council, was destroyed. Similarly destroyed was the pub and shop of Thaddeus Walsh, chairman of the Rural District Council. Other houses in the town and houses in Carrowkennedy, Drummindoo and Carrowbawn were destroyed or burned. The IRA were not deterred by the destruction. Following the Anglo Irish Treaty, the Royal Irish Constabulary pulled out of their barracks for the last time on Monday 12 February 1922 and formally handed over the next day. It carried 400 troops and a Rolls Royce 1920 pattern armoured car, nicknamed the Big Fella, with a Vickers machine gun and an 18 pounder artillery as well as 600 rifles and 150 bicycles. It anchored off Inishlyre. General Ring led a successful landing by sea. First the Coastguard station at Rosmoney was captured by 40 National Army troops, freeing 90 pro treaty prisoners who were held there. Ring then landed his men and armoured car at Westport Quay. The Republicans, who had not at all expected their arrival, set fire to the barracks and withdrew from the town.

Since the late 20th century, Westport has expanded with several new housing estates. Some of these include Springfield, the Carrowbeg Estate, Horkans Hill, Cedar Park, Fairways, Knockranny Village and Sharkey Hill.

The original house was built by Colonel John Browne, a Jacobite, who was at the Siege of Limerick, and his wife Maude Bourke. Maude Bourke was Grace O'Malley's great great granddaughter. The house then did not have a lake or a dam, and the tide rose and fell against the walls. Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont acquired slave plantations in Jamaica by marriage. His grandson Howe Peter Browne (2nd Marquess of Sligo) was the Governor of Jamaica when the slaves were freed. Designed by the architects Richard Cassels, Thomas Ivory and James Wyatt in the 18th century, Westport House is situated in a parkland setting with a lake, terraces, gardens and views overlooking Clew Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, Achill, Clare Island and Ireland's Holy Mountain, Croagh Patrick. In January 2017, it was announced that a local family had purchased the house and grounds.

AbbVie a global biopharmaceutical company employs 1,400 people in Westport. AbbVie acquired Allergan in 2020. The global clothing manufacturing company and family business Portwest is based in Westport and was founded there in 1904.

Between the censuses of 2011 and 2016, the town showed a limited growth from 5,543 to 6,198 inhabitants.

People from Westport town are traditionally known as "Coveys". Some decades ago the Covey dialect still existed and was unintelligible to outsiders. For example, the Covey word for a woman was a "doner". Matt Molloy of the Chieftains has a pub and music venue on Bridge Street. Another entertainment venue is the Westport Town Hall Theatre on the Octagon. This was established in the early 1900s, and renovated and refurbished in 2015. The theatre hosts events, artists and musicians, local theatre groups and children's puppet shows. The Custom House Studios and Gallery is the centre of the local arts scene.

Westport has a regional newspaper based in the town, The Mayo News, founded in 1892 by William and Patrick Dorris. Other newspapers available are the Mayo Advertiser, Western People and the Connaught Telegraph.

Local radio is delivered by Westport Radio 98.2 FM.

Several festivals and events are held in and around Westport each year. These include the Westport Music and Arts Festival (which was rebranded as "Westival" in 2018 and moved from September to October), a Croagh Patrick walking festival in March,

The educational facilities for boys in Westport were for many years associated with the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The first of these facilities was established in Castlebar Street in 1865 before transferring to the Newport road in 1962 where the former national school can still be seen today. In 1987 the secondary school Rice College was built on Castlebar Road in order to cater for the increased educational requirements. The line originally ran through to Westport Quay station (opened on 1 January 1875 and closed in April 1977).

The N5 national primary route also connects the town to Castlebar, as well as connecting to the N4 near Longford that leads onward to Dublin. The other major road passing through Westport is the N59 national secondary route.

The regional airport is Ireland West Airport Knock, away.

The Gaelic football club, Westport United soccer club and the rugby club have competed in county and national events. Westport, and the surrounding region, has been identified as a primary centre for adventure sports by Fáilte Ireland. Every August it hosts the largest one day adventure multi sport race of its kind in the world – Gael Force West. It is also home to horse riding, surfing, sea kayaking, windsurfing and sailing schools and other adventure sports.

Westport is an angling centre providing sea fishing on Clew Bay and game and coarse fishing on nearby loughs and rivers. Clew Bay is also a sea angling centre hosting several sea fishing competitions each year, and is known as a venue for common skate fishing. It holds the Irish record for a 160 lb white skate. It is also home to tope, huss and ray.

The Westport GAA club, CLG Chathair na Mart, have a history going back to the nineteenth century. Gaelic football is the main sport played within the club.

Westport Golf Club (championship) was in 2009 ranked 43rd out of the top 100 golf courses in Ireland by Golf Digest. The Golfers Guide to Ireland 2016 voted Westport as the best Parkland in Connaught for the second time in the preceding three years. It has hosted a number of tournaments, including the Ladies Home Internationals in 1989 and the Irish Amateur Close Championship on three occasions, the last time in 1997. It also hosted the Irish PGA Championship in 2002.

Westport United football club was founded in 1911. Westport United won the FAI Junior Cup in 2005 in Kilkenny and play their home matches in the newly developed United Park, which opened in September 2016. Westport United still uses the Sports Park for some underage games. The club colours are red and black. Westport also won the Connaught Cup in 1942, 1945, 1949, 1961, 1974, 1987 and 2012 along with numerous Mayo titles. Westport United's training ground is located in The Quay area.

Westport Rugby Club are located in Carrowholly, a few kilometres outside the town. League and Cawley cup champions in 2016 and junior cup champions in 2015.

Westport Warriors Basketball Club run for all different age groups and are part of the MABB League.

Westport is twinned with Plougastel Daoulas in Brittany, France and with Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The link with the latter has its roots in the 1980s and the official ratification and twinning ceremony took place in 2002. Since 1982, Westport also has had a partnership with the town of Aror, Kenya, and the people of Westport have contributed to improving the infrastructure of Aror.