20/05/2026
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๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฅ
(Article from Mayo Heritage Newsletter)
๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ (๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต) ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐บ๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐บ๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ต๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐. ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐: ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ?
History tells us that the Carter family of Castlemartin, Co. Kildare, inherited half the Shaen lands in the barony of Erris, through marriage with a Shaen heiress in 1750.
On May 1st 1824 William Henry Carter (1783โ1859) arrived in the area with a view to developing it into a market town. To execute his vision, Carter commissioned Castlebar engineer Patrick Knight to map out the streets. Between 1824 and 1825 he founded the town of Belmullet. William Henry Carter endeavoured to develop the town similar to other European urban projects of the time. Vital to this was the new road between Belmullet and Castlebar, which was completed in 1824.
๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐บ๐๐น๐น๐ฒ๐, which was to replace Binghamstown (An Geata Mรณr) as the main hub of the area.
Progress was rapid, utilising granite and sandstone from Blacksod to build a number of buildings, including the impressive โ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐นโ. To facilitate the large number of visitors to the area, another hotel, the '๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐น' was built sometime later, directly opposite the Erris Hotel. Those two imposing buildings remained the main feature on Carter Square until they were demolished.
In 1826 a quay, large enough to accommodate vessels of 100 tons was also built at Belmullet close to Carter Square.
This helped to accelerate the importation of goods, especially from Britain, which now included tea, sugar, beer, wine, coal and grain.
In 1838 the Ordnance survey officers visited Belmullet. The surveyors made the following observations about the townland of Belmullet and Carter Square:
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต: ๐รฉ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐. ๐. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐๐ด๐ฒ. ๐๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด 319 ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, 3 ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด, 19 ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ 220 ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ; ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐จ, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ-๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ 17 ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ โ๐๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ตโ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ.
The famous writer, John Millington Synge, author of 'The Pl***oy of The Western World', visited Belmullet in 1904 and reported: โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ๐ด, ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ช๐จ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด'
Carter Square in recent times features a central landmark tower (signifying the four local lighthouses).
Carter Square is still the focal point of the town, often locally referred to as โthe squareโ and hosts markets, gatherings, and social events where locals and visitors congregate together. Itโs a vital part of Belmulletโs identity.
Its name stands as a reminder of the contributions made by a man who, through vision and enterprise, helped shape the townโs identity. Though much about his life remains a mystery, we know he was born c. 1783, in County Kildare.
He was the son of Thomas Carter and Catherine Butler. He married Elizabeth Brooke, in June 1809, with whom he had his direct successor Thomas Shaen Carter. Following Elizabeth's death, he married Frances Bourke on 11th June 1846 in Kil, Co. Kildare.
Despite his massive impact on the architecture and growth of Belmullet, Carter was largely an absentee landlord. He primarily lived in Kildare, entrusting the daily running of the Erris estate and the planning of the town to Crampton, his trusted local agent.
William Henry Carter died on July 6, 1859, at the age of 75 in Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, Germany).
Belmullet town celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2024 (Belmullet200) with a commemoration of William Carterโs arrival kicking off the festivities.
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด:
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ-๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ.๐ช๐ฆ
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ.๐ช๐ฆ
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด.๐ช๐ฆ
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต200
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