Castlebar Military Barracks, sometimes referred to as Mitchell Barracks, was a military installation at Rock Square in

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

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The barracks was closed in 2012 and sold to

Mayo County Council Mayo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

with an agreement to lease a portion of the barracks back to the Defence Forces for the use of a reserve unit.

History

The infantry barracks at

, which were built on the site of an old castle, were completed in 1834. The barracks became the home of the 3rd Battalion, the

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Foot (which ...

in the late 19th century and it was at Castlebar that the battalion was disbanded in 1901. A part of barracks was burnt down by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

in spring 1922. Blocks E/F and J/K/L and the hospital were completely destroyed before the site was secured by the forces of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

in summer 1922. On the night of 28 February 1957 the St. Patricks Boys National School building was burnt down, on 3 April 1957 the school was temporally relocated to blocks G and H of the barracks. A replacement school building was opened on 9 November 1961. The barracks, which latterly were used as a training camp by the

Reserve Defence Forces The Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) ( ga, Na hÓglaigh Cúltaca) are the combined Military reserve force, reserve components of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The RDF is organised into the First Line Reserve (FLR) and an active S ...

, closed in March 2012 and the site has since been acquired by

. On 29 January 2016 when workers were probing the ceiling of block A they discovered a human skull. Although the barracks has sometimes been referred to as "Mitchell Barracks", local media simply refers to it as "Castlebar Military Barracks".

References

{{reflist Barracks in the Republic of Ireland Castlebar Buildings and structures in County Mayo