Bekan or Becan () is a village in
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ) 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 Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
, Ireland. Because of the almost entirely rural population, it is traditionally a farming community. The village is off the
R323 road between
Knock and
Ballyhaunis
Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil pa ...
. The local school is St. Joseph's National School.
The Connacht
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
Centre of Excellence was built outside the village in December 2012.
Sport
Eastern Gaels is the local
Gaelic Football
Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
club, which represents both Bekan and
Brickeens. The Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence is the major sporting facility in the area. The centre is just outside the village. The centre has a 3G pitch, five floodlit
Gaelic games
Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...
pitches, and a
gym
A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...
nasium.
Transport
Bekan railway station opened on 1 January 1909 and closed on 17 June 1963.
Further reading
* ''Béacán/Bekan: Portrait of an East Mayo Parish'', edited by Fr. Michael Comer and Dr.
Nollaig Ó Muraíle
Nollaig Ó Muraíle is an Irish scholar. He published an edition of Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's ''Leabhar na nGenealach'' in 2004. He was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy in 2009.
Life and career
A native of Knock, County Mayo, Ó Muraíle ...
, published in 1986.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
Towns and villages in County Mayo
Civil parishes of County Mayo
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