Mayo’s architectural heritage celebrated in new publication

Mayo’s rich architectural heritage celebrated in new publication


Áine Ryan

COUNTY Mayo’s extensive built heritage was celebrated yesterday at the launch, by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, at the National Museum of Country Life of ‘An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Mayo’. A Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht publication, the volume is supported by the ‘Survey of the Architectural heritage of County Mayo, on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) website www.buildingsofireland.ie.
Indeed, Westport’s Holy Trinity Church, deemed as having ‘the finest interior’ in the county,  is featured on the website as the building of the month with a condensed article by Caitríona Hastings, which first appeared in Cathair na Mart, the Journal of Westport Historical Society.
“County Mayo boasts a rich architectural heritage dating back to the early eighteenth century,” the introduction to the inventory states. They include St Muredach’s Catholic Cathedral in Ballina to Castlebar Methodist Chapel, as well as  lighthouses, harbours and piers, as well as the series of Napoleonic Signal Towers and look-out towers built by the Irish government ‘to protect its neutrality during “The Emergency”.’  
“All aspects of the architectural heritage of County Mayo have been recorded ranging from the grandest of country houses to the cast-iron post boxes and water-pumps that make a significant contribution to the historic streetscape,” it continues.