COUNTY VIEW: When Castlebar was the Irish Cheltenham

While history will always associate the Races of Castlebar with the ignominious rout of the Redcoats by General Humbert, less well known is that Castlebar once aspired to be the Cheltenham of Ireland.
Long before the invading French had inflicted a bloody nose on the colonial ruler, Castlebar Races were well established as a venue for ‘quality’, as opposed to the localised events then being held in towns and villages across the country. As far back as 1740, the Castlebar event had allied itself with the Royal Plate races at the Curragh, meaning that only horses which had been entered previously for the Kildare venue were permitted to contest certain races sponsored by Castlebar Corporation.
And, like Cheltenham, the week-long race meeting was a gala affair. The large crowds attracted to the races had to be accommodated, catered to and entertained. Late-night gambling sessions saw thousands of pounds change hands (and, in one famous case, a farm of land), plays were staged, hotels were filled and many businesses provided a ‘daily ordinary’, a meal for less-affluent punters at a fixed time and price, and an ‘exquisite ball’ for the ladies on the closing night of the races.
According to local historian, Noel Campbell, the popularity of racing in the town ebbed and flowed over the following years but made an energetic return in the 1830s when the Castlebar Races were re-established and run over three days on the Breaffy course. Both the Tyrawley Hotel and Sheridans Hotel advertised their services of well-aired beds, food and stabling, and thanked visitors to the town for their patronage in previous years.
The support of the Earl of Lucan was, of course, pivotal to the success of the races. He was the sponsor of many of the races and the race stewards, selected from Mayo’s landed class, also added to the prize money on offer, with the Corinthian Stakes and the Castlebar Plate being among the richest races in Ireland.
The Castlebar Races remained a class-conscious sport, and participation was confined to gentlemen living in Mayo and to British army officers stationed in the country. The sport itself was regulated by the gentry, the owners of the horses, unified under the Turf Club in 1784.
It was hardly surprising that the peasantry was excluded from the sport of kings. While the racehorses later thundered over the course at Aughadrinagh, watched by the ‘quality’ in all their finery, the former occupants of the land had been evicted by Lucan the Exterminator, and were now existing in hovels wherever they could find space to settle.
Following on the dark days of the Famine, racing resumed in Castlebar, originally over the Breaffy course. Its popularity was soon restored to such a level that the Midland Railway Company put on special trains at cheap rates to facilitate the many spectators travelling from stations along the line.
But after 30 years, times changed and the holding of races was again terminated. Lord Lucan stepped in to again offer his Aughadrinagh lands, but by the early years of the new century, its fortunes had again declined. Local businesses, which had supported the event financially during periods of earlier decline, and aware of its value to the local economy, resolved to acquire a new venue for the races.
A committee was elected, and a site was selected at the rear of the Lawn, in the town centre. Lord Lucan, the landowner, was favourably disposed, and agreed a lease on condition that the committee would provide the finances to have the ground levelled, jumps erected and a grandstand put in place.
But the Great War broke out and the committee found it was not feasible to provide the grandstand. Their proposal to float a limited liability company was rejected by Lord Lucan, who insisted that the required funds be raised by public subscription. In addition, he insisted that the terms of the lease be fulfilled and that, failing the committee erecting a grandstand and turnstiles, the lease would be cancelled.
It was a bridge too far for the local committee. The ensuing turmoil of the war of independence and the civil war meant that a new racecourse slipped far down the list of priorities. The Irish Cheltenham never came to pass.