Bangor Erris () is a town in Kiltane parish in

Erris Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Coun ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

with a population of over 300. It is on the banks of the Owenmore River and is a "gateway" to the

Peninsula linking Belmullet with Ballina and Westport. It is located at the foot of the "Bangor Trail" a 22-mile mountain pass across the Nephin Beg ( ga, Néifinn Bheag) Mountain Range to Newport. Approximately 2 km away is Carrowmore Lake, ( ga, Loch na Ceathrú Móire) Bangor is a centre for wild

atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon a ...

and

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin ( Wales), peel or pea ...

fishing. Bangor Erris is located in the Parish of Kiltane. Due west from Bangor are the towns of Belmullet, Geesala, Mulranny, Westport and Doolough.

History

The original name for Bangor was Doire Choinadaigh (Kennedy's Wood), a name found on maps from 1724 to 1829. The place was also called 'Coineadach' by John O'Donovan in the Ordnance Survey Name Books of 1838. In 1802 when James McPartlan (Statistical Survey p. 159) surveyed the area, he called the village 'Cahal' and noted that there were regular fairs held there at that time. Locally the village was known as 'Aonach Cathail' because a wealthy buyer of that name was a regular at the fair days. The name 'Bangor' was given to the village by Major Denis Bingham who established the town of Bangor Erris. The reason Bangor was chosen as a site for Bingham's town was because it was situated at the crossroads of two old roads which were in use from about the middle of the 18th century. One road led from Carne (Mullet peninsula) to

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

and the other went from Inver ( Kilcommon) to Newport. Both roads were repaired by order of the County Assizes in 1793. The crossroads was well sheltered from the worst of the prevailing winds and its situation on the banks of the Owenmore River also made it a suitable site. Major Bingham introduced the Revenue Police to stamp out the illicit distillation of drink, in reality it was to get personal protection for himself in his house Bingham Lodge on the western edge of the town. A post office was established in the town in 1842. The local parish church dates back to the mid-19th Century. The Townagh flood In December 1818, four lakes just outside Bangor Erris burst their banks after heavy rains, unleashing a torrent of water that killed 17 people. The majority of the victims were from the O'Hara family. Three soldiers from the 92nd Highlanders were also killed. The soldiers were on revenue duty and were lodging with the O'Hara family. All three soldiers were veterans of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

. During the same storm, two other soldiers were killed when they got lost in the bog. Irish War of Independence In January 1921, a local man, Michael McAndrew (aged 27), was stabbed in the neck by a soldier. McAndrew was attempting to take the soldier's rifle when he received the wound. He was taken to Belmullet Hospital where he survived the injury.

Transport

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidi ...

route 446 links Bangor Erris with Bellacorick,

Crossmolina Crossmolina is a town in the Barony of Tyrawley in County Mayo, Ireland, as well as the name of the parish in which Crossmolina is situated. The town sits on the River Deel near the northern shore of Lough Conn. Crossmolina is about west of ...

and Ballina. In the reverse direction it links to Belmullet and the Mullet Peninsula. There are now four services a day in each direction, including Sundays. On Friday evenings an extra journey operates from Ballina. Onward rail and bus connections are available at Ballina.

Facilities

There are three

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in Bangor - The Talk Of The Town, the Kiltane Tavern and the West End Bar. Bangor has one

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more li ...

/grocery shop, a

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

s and a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplie ...

. Bangor National School is attended by the children of Bangor and other neighboring villages such as Tawnagh and Bellacorick. Bangor Hibs have an all-weather

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

pitch which is used for

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches a ...

. Across from the national school is the Catholic church.

Sport

The GAA Club in Kiltane is Kiltane GFC. Kiltane were founded in 1964 and wear blue and gold jerseys. They won the Junior and Intermediate Championships in 1972 and 1973 respectively. The soccer club in Bangor Erris is named Bangor Hibernians F.C. They play at Ballybeg Park. Founded in 1995 the club plays in the Premier division of the Mayo Association League. The club's colours are blue and black vertical stripes. The club crest denotes the "Big Bridge" in Bangor which carries traffic over the Owenmore River and is situated close to the club's home ground. The club's first major Junior Cup Final victory came against

Partry Partry ( ga, Partraí) is a villagePartry
Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved: 2012-04-15. and a

Johnny Carey (Gaelic footballer) * John McAndrew – A member of the 1950 and 1951 Mayo teams that won the All-Ireland. * Eileen Lynn Kato – A renowned academic and translator of Japanese poetry and theater. In 1991, she was appointed as Gakari (advisor) to the Japanese emperor.

Folklore

The area around Bangor Erris is rich in local folklore. The

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

of the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

took place not far from Bangor Erris at the fort at Rathmorgan beside Carrowmore Lake. Known as Táin Bó Flidhais it tells the story of a cattle raid around the 1st century AD. There is a folktale that the road between Bangor Erris and Ballycroy is haunted by magical creatures. A phantom dog sometimes appears, as does a white cow, whose appearance is regarded as a warning of death. Several of the local lakes are associated with folk tales of 'water horses", which sometimes come onto the land and try to get people to mount them, and subsequently take them off into the water.

References