Westport, County Mayo

Westport
Cathair na Mart (Irish)
Town
Mall along Carrowbeg River in Westport
Mall along Carrowbeg River in Westport
Coat of arms of Westport
Westport is located in Ireland
Westport
Westport
Location in Ireland
Westport is located in Europe
Westport
Westport
Westport (Europe)
Coordinates: 53°48′00″N 9°32′00″W / 53.8°N 9.5333°W / 53.8; -9.5333
CountryIreland
ProvinceConnacht
County County Mayo
Elevation
80 m (260 ft)
Population
 • Urban
6,872
Time zoneUTC±0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (IST)
Eircode routing key
F28
Telephone area code+353(0)98
Irish Grid ReferenceM004841

Westport (Irish: Cathair na Mart, meaning 'the stone fort of the beeves', historically anglicised as Cahernamart)[2] is a town in County Mayo in Ireland.[3] It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. Westport is a tourist destination and scores highly for quality of life.[4] It won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times in 2001, 2006 and 2008.[5] In 2012 it won the Best Place to Live in Ireland competition run by The Irish Times.[6]

Westport is designated as a heritage town, and is one of only a few planned towns in Ireland. The town centre was laid-out in the Georgian architectural style, and incorporates the Carrow Beg river into the design composition. This provides for tree lined promenades (known as The Mall) and several stone bridges.

The Carrowbeg river flows through Westport

The pilgrimage mountain of Croagh Patrick, known locally as "the Reek", lies some 10 km west of the town near the villages of Murrisk and Lecanvey. The mountain forms the backdrop to the town.

  1. ^ "Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement – F1015 - Population". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland Archived 4 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine (see archival records)
  3. ^ Westport Before 1800 by Michael Kelly published in Cathair Na Mart 2019
  4. ^ LikePlace. "Ranking for this place". www.likeplace.ie. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Three time winner of the SuperValu TidyTowns Competition, Westport, share some of their secrets for success". Irish Independent. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  6. ^ Conor Goodman (30 June 2012). "The Best Place to Live in Ireland: How Westport won". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2018.