COMMENT: Castlebar town centre revamp warmly welcomed

Signs of the long-awaited revival of the traditional commercial centre of Castlebar have been warmly welcomed in the county town, with construction finally underway for a multi-million-euro development in the heart of the trading area.

The development, at the old Lavelle’s Riverside Bakery adjacent to the town bridge, is the first of a hoped-for trio of initiatives that will transform the town landscape and eliminate much of the urban blight that has tarnished the once-thriving town centre over recent years.

The Riverside Bakery development, the brainchild of enterprising young businessman, Dermot Fadden, will see a complete revamp of the property to encompass retail, office and residential development. Situated on an extensive site extending along the rear of Linenhall Street and onto the Market Square carpark, the venerable premises includes a series of three storey, stone-built stores, granaries and bakeries, once the beating heart of the famed Lavelle bakery of old.

Founded in 1919 by widow, Mrs Ann Lavelle, who acquired the property from the Hynes family, the Riverside bakery became one of the best known of its kind in Connaught, its delivery vans a familiar sight on the roads of the county, and far beyond. Mrs Lavelle was assisted in co-running the business by her brother in law, Austin Lavelle, a master baker and a man who played a prominent role in the town’s elected governance until his death in 1928.

He was succeeded by Mrs Lavelle’s son, Thomas A Lavelle, until his retirement, when the running of the business passed on to the latter’s nephews, Joe and Dermot Ryan, of Ellison Street. Joe Ryan’s family then took over the running of the bakery and its very successful confectionery outlet, the Upper Crust, up to its closure some ten years ago, since when the premises remained vacant until its acquisition by Mr Fadden. One of Castlebar’s flagship business enterprise, the bakery had been a major employer for generations of local people.

Meanwhile, there has been further positive news for Castlebar with the planned development of the old Convent property at Rock Square, where the promoters have unveiled ambitious plans for a nursing home, residential, retail and office space. When complete, it will finally close off what has been an abandoned site for the past twenty years, since the building was demolished under cover of darkness by a Donegal based consortium.

And, finally, work has commenced on renovating the old Malthouse property, a fine, three storey cut stone building located in the heart of the Market Square car park. The distinctive building has lain idle for nearly a century. Most recently, it had been marked for development as a super pub and entertainment venue by the late hotelier and developer, Tony McHugh, which plans were put in abeyance following his untimely demise.

A building of some historical significance, the brewery, which was founded in the early 1800s by Laurence Nihil of Dublin, comprised a large malt house, corn stores and kilns. The brewery ran into financial difficulties in 1821, when Nihil sought an investor. Abraham Walker came to the rescue with the then substantial investment of £1,000, but the Walker and Nihil brewery turned out to be ‘an unmitigated disaster’, in the words of local historian, Dr Michael O’Connor.

In 1825, it was sold off to satisfy Walker’s many creditors, but its subsequent owner, Nicholas Joyes, seemed to fare no better. Joyes was a member of a successful brewing family in Galway, and after his death, efforts to find a tenant to take over the business met with little success. By 1858, the premises was being offered for sale again with its owners deciding it no longer had a viable future.