Claremorris

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Town in County Mayo, Ireland

title: "Claremorris" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-and-villages-in-county-mayo"] description: "Town in County Mayo, Ireland" topic_path: "general/towns-and-villages-in-county-mayo" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremorris" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in County Mayo, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
settlement_typeTown
nameClaremorris
native_nameClár Chlainne Mhuiris
native_name_langga
image_skylineIMG Claremorris0475w.jpg
image_captionDalton Street in Claremorris
pushpin_mapIreland
pushpin_label_positionright
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Ireland
coordinates
blank_name_sec1Irish Grid Reference
blank_info_sec1
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameIreland
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_name1Connacht
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_name2County Mayo
unit_prefMetric
elevation_m69
elevation_footnotes
population_as_of2022
population_total3,857
population_footnotes
area_code_typeTelephone area code
area_code+353(0)94
postal_code_typeEircode routing key
postal_codeF12
timezoneWET
utc_offset±0
timezone_DSTIST
utc_offset_DST+1
::

|settlement_type = Town |name = Claremorris |native_name = Clár Chlainne Mhuiris |native_name_lang = ga |image_skyline = IMG Claremorris0475w.jpg |image_caption = Dalton Street in Claremorris |pushpin_map = Ireland |pushpin_label_position = right |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland |coordinates = |blank_name_sec1 = Irish Grid Reference |blank_info_sec1 = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Ireland |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Connacht |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = County Mayo |unit_pref = Metric |elevation_m = 69 |elevation_footnotes = |population_as_of = 2022 |population_total = 3,857 |population_footnotes = | area_code_type = Telephone area code | area_code = +353(0)94 | postal_code_type =Eircode routing key | postal_code =F12 |timezone = WET |utc_offset = ±0 |timezone_DST = IST |utc_offset_DST = +1

Claremorris (; ) is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. As of the 2017, it was the fastest growing town in the county, having seen a 31% increase in population between 2006 and 2011, and a 23% increase between 2002 and 2006. Between the 2016 census and the 2022 census, the population of Claremorris grew further, from 3,687 to 3,857 inhabitants.

The town sits at the bottom of a valley, all roads leading to the town follow hills, in particular the old Knock road (known as the Knock hill) and Courthouse road. Although low-lying, the town does not experience flooding. There is no major river through the town although there are two lakes in the town centre: Clare Lough where the 'Land of the Giants' amenity is located and Mayfield Lough. A small river flows between the two.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/2017-06-17_4904x7356_claremorris_library.jpg" caption="Town library"] ::

Claremorris derives its name from Maurice de Prendergast, a Norman, who came to Ireland .

The town was established during the 18th century. In 1822, a Roman Catholic Chapel was built, which was later demolished to make way for the town hall. The present Roman Catholic church, St. Colman's Church, was built in 1911. St. John's Anglican Church, now the town library, was built in 1828.

The main landlord family in Claremorris was the Browne family, one of whom, the Hon. Denis Browne (1760–1828), was High Sheriff of Mayo during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and acquired the nickname of "Donnchadha an Rópa" (Denis the Rope) as a result of his treatment of captured United Irishmen.

Demographics

At the 2022 census, Claremorris had a total population of 3,857 people, consisting of 1,821 males and 2,036 females. Over 72% of the population were Irish nationals and Catholics constituted 65% of the population.

Genealogical records for Claremorris consist of Roman Catholic church records of marriage which commenced in 1805 and baptisms which commenced in 1825. Church of Ireland records consist of baptisms from 1834 onwards, marriages from 1846 onwards and burials from 1878 onwards. These are held at the South Mayo Family Research Centre in Ballinrobe.

|1821|1297 |1831|1476 |1841|2256 |1851|1560 |1861|1323 |1871|1103 |1881|1319 |1891|1259 |1901|1118 |1911|1069 |1926|1107 |1936|1132 |1946|1045 |1951|1063 |1956|1512 |1961|1519 |1966|1479 |1971|1718 |1981|2036 |1986|1992 |1991|1907 |1996|1914 |2002|2101 |2006|2595 |2011|3412 |2016|3687 |2022|3857 | footnote={{cite book | last=Lee | first=JJ | author-link =J. J. Lee (historian) | editor-last=Goldstrom | editor-first=J. M. | editor2-last=Clarkson | editor2-first=L. A. | title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell | year=1981 | publisher=Clarendon Press | location=Oxford, England | chapter=On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses | last1 = Mokyr | first1 = Joel | author-link = Joel Mokyr | last2 = Ó Gráda | first2 = Cormac | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850 | journal = The Economic History Review | volume = 37 | issue = 4 | pages = 473–488 |date=November 1984 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-12-04 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x | hdl = 10197/1406 | hdl-access = free

Amenities

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Busy_part_of_Claremorris_-geograph.org.uk-_851383.jpg" caption="Claremorris town centre"] ::

There are two secondary schools: St. Colman's College for boys and Mount St. Michaels for girls. There are also two primary schools, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál and Claremorris Boys National School. Gaelscoil Uileog de Búrca, in nearby Loughanamon, provides primary education through the Irish language.

A swimming pool and leisure centre opened on 1 September 2009. A Garda Síochána Station opened in 2008.

There are three hotels including the four-star McWilliam Park Hotel, which opened in 2006. The town also has several restaurants, many pubs and two nightclubs. Retail outlets in the area include several in the Silverbridge Shopping Centre, a development at the northern end of Claremorris town which is anchored by Tesco.

Local events include Claremorris Open Exhibition (an annual arts exhibition in the town held since 1978), and the Claremorris Drama Festival (an annual drama festival held since 1970).

McMahon Park - Clare Lake is located just beside the town. It has tree-lined walks, angling platforms and areas suitable for picnicking. It's also home to Land of the Giants, a children's attraction.

Claremorris has long been known by locals for its coarse fishing. There are many loughs located around Claremorris where species like Northern Pike, European Perch, European Eel, European Bream and European Roach can be caught regularly. The River Robe located outside the town has been known for its stock of wild brown trout and the Robe's tributaries are also hold a stable stock of smaller trout.

Sports

There are a number of sporting clubs in the area, including Gaelic games, soccer, rugby and athletics clubs.

Claremorris GAA club has been Mayo senior hurling champions twice (1968 and 1971) and senior county Gaelic football champions four times (1961, 1964, 1965 and 1971).

The local soccer club trains and plays matches at Concannon park. There is also an athletics club which trains on a "Mondo" athletics track. A rugby club, Claremorris Colts RFC, was established in 2009 and meets at the Mount St Michael Convent Girls School pitch. The club was awarded the title of 'Club of the Year' by the Connacht Branch of the IRFU in April 2012.

A swimming club trains at the Claremorris Leisure Centre, and incorporates water polo. The club was the first from Connacht to win the all-Ireland under 16 & under 19 boys championships, as well as being the first club to win the inaugural girls under-16 and under-19 championships. The Claremorris Leisure Centre opened in 2009 and has a 25-metre, 6 lane, short course competition pool. It also has a gymnasium and fitness studio.

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/23.10.85_Claremorris_053_(6126819182).jpg" caption="Train at Claremorris Railway Station, 1985"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Ireland_Western_Rail_Corridor.png" caption="Map of the [[Western Rail Corridor]]; ex-GSWR line south of Limerick in green, other ex-MGWR lines are in red."] ::

Road

Claremorris is situated at a major road junction, and the N17 (Galway-Sligo road) and the N60 (Castlebar-Roscommon road) meet in the town.

The town was once a major traffic bottleneck, with significant traffic jams every afternoon (particularly Fridays), when traffic on the N17 slowly negotiated the old bank corner which consisted of a sharp right hand bend. By the late 1990s, over 13,000 vehicles passed through the town daily. In 1994, a design for the bypass was completed by Mayo County Council. A compulsory purchase order went ahead in 1995, followed by a three-year wait for funding. Construction of the N17 Claremorris bypass commenced in 1998 and it opened in July 2001. Journey times at peak periods were reduced by 30 minutes on the Galway/Sligo route after the opening. The project was built as a grade-separated single carriageway (with motorway style interchanges). The new 16 km road bypassed one of Ireland's most treacherous national routes, as the original 7 mi stretch between Claremorris and Knock had a very high accident.

The busy N60 still passes through the town via an inner relief road. While a second bypass for the town was included in a proposed new N60 road to Castlebar, as of 2011 the National Roads Authority had suspended this development due to cutbacks.

Railways

Claremorris railway station, which opened in 1862, is served by the Dublin Galway/Westport line as well as the Ballina Branch Line to Ballina. An additional proposal, under phase 3 of the Western Railway Corridor, proposed to link Claremorris to Athenry via Tuam. However, as of December 2023, no date for this proposed development had been identified, with the "all-island strategic rail review" recommending that related works by "commenced by 2030".

Weather station

Claremorris is home to one of Ireland's eight inland weather observing stations, located 2 kilometres from the town centre. It began recording weather in November 1943 and was run and staffed by a local family. During WWII, Ireland provided detailed weather reports to the Allies. Weather reports from Claremorris and Blacksod Lighthouse (located on the west coast of Mayo) played a significant factor in selecting the date of launch for the D-Day landings in June 1944. In 1949, it was decided that the Irish Meteorological Service needed observations on an hourly basis from inland stations like Claremorris. It was decided to staff the station with full-time permanent personnel. In 1996, staff were relocated to Ireland West Airport and it now operates automatically with data uploaded to Dublin.

Climate

Claremorris has a temperate oceanic climate with cold winters and warm damp summers. The coldest months being January and February and the wettest being December and October. Claremorris is a very cloudy town, averaging less than 1,200 hours of sunshine annually.{{cite web | url = http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/1971-2000/claremorris.html | title = Claremorris 1971–2000 averages | publisher = Met Éireann | access-date = 27 May 2015}} Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate). |location = Claremorris (1971-2000, extremes 1943–present) |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 15.7 |Feb record high C = 13.8 |Mar record high C = 20.1 |Apr record high C = 22.5 |May record high C = 25.4 |Jun record high C = 29.8 |Jul record high C = 30.5 |Aug record high C = 29.5 |Sep record high C = 26.4 |Oct record high C = 21.7 |Nov record high C = 16.1 |Dec record high C = 15.7 |year record high C = 30.5 |Jan high C = 7.5 |Feb high C = 8.1 |Mar high C = 9.8 |Apr high C = 12.1 |May high C = 14.9 |Jun high C = 17.0 |Jul high C = 18.9 |Aug high C = 18.7 |Sep high C = 16.4 |Oct high C = 13.1 |Nov high C = 9.9 |Dec high C = 8.1 |year high C = 12.9 |Jan mean C = 4.6 |Feb mean C = 4.9 |Mar mean C = 6.3 |Apr mean C = 8.0 |May mean C = 10.5 |Jun mean C = 12.9 |Jul mean C = 15.0 |Aug mean C = 14.7 |Sep mean C = 12.5 |Oct mean C = 9.8 |Nov mean C = 6.7 |Dec mean C = 5.3 |year mean C = 9.3 |Jan low C = 1.7 |Feb low C = 1.8 |Mar low C = 2.9 |Apr low C = 3.9 |May low C = 6.1 |Jun low C = 8.8 |Jul low C = 11.0 |Aug low C = 10.6 |Sep low C = 8.6 |Oct low C = 6.4 |Nov low C = 3.5 |Dec low C = 2.5 |year low C = 5.7 |Jan record low C = -15.7 |Feb record low C = -17.1 |Mar record low C = -12.1 |Apr record low C = -5.5 |May record low C = -3.1 |Jun record low C = -0.4 |Jul record low C = 0.6 |Aug record low C = 1.1 |Sep record low C = -1.2 |Oct record low C = -4.5 |Nov record low C = -6.4 |Dec record low C = -15.0 |year record low C = -17.1 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 127.9 |Feb precipitation mm = 102.1 |Mar precipitation mm = 101.6 |Apr precipitation mm = 63.7 |May precipitation mm = 68.1 |Jun precipitation mm = 64.5 |Jul precipitation mm = 70.1 |Aug precipitation mm = 95.7 |Sep precipitation mm = 94.3 |Oct precipitation mm = 128.2 |Nov precipitation mm = 127.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 129.6 |year precipitation mm = 1173.6 |time day = 15:00 LST |Jan humidity = 85.6 |Feb humidity = 79.8 |Mar humidity = 75.7 |Apr humidity = 67.9 |May humidity = 68.0 |Jun humidity = 71.1 |Jul humidity = 73.2 |Aug humidity = 73.4 |Sep humidity = 74.7 |Oct humidity = 80.2 |Nov humidity = 84.4 |Dec humidity = 88.1 |year humidity = 76.8 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 18 |Feb precipitation days = 15 |Mar precipitation days = 17 |Apr precipitation days = 12 |May precipitation days = 12 |Jun precipitation days = 11 |Jul precipitation days = 12 |Aug precipitation days = 13 |Sep precipitation days = 14 |Oct precipitation days = 17 |Nov precipitation days = 18 |Dec precipitation days = 17 |year precipitation days = 176 |Jan snow days = 5.7 |Feb snow days = 4.4 |Mar snow days = 3.8 |Apr snow days = 1.6 |May snow days = 0.2 |Jun snow days = 0.0 |Jul snow days = 0.0 |Aug snow days = 0.0 |Sep snow days = 0.0 |Oct snow days = 0.1 |Nov snow days = 1.2 |Dec snow days = 3.1 |year snow days = 20.0 |Jan sun = 40.3 |Feb sun = 53.7 |Mar sun = 80.6 |Apr sun = 129.0 |May sun = 155.0 |Jun sun = 132.0 |Jul sun = 114.7 |Aug sun = 117.8 |Sep sun = 96.0 |Oct sun = 74.4 |Nov sun = 51.0 |Dec sun = 27.9 |year sun = |Jand sun = 1.3 |Febd sun = 1.9 |Mard sun = 2.6 |Aprd sun = 4.3 |Mayd sun = 5.0 |Jund sun = 4.4 |Juld sun = 3.7 |Augd sun = 3.8 |Sepd sun = 3.2 |Octd sun = 2.4 |Novd sun = 1.7 |Decd sun = 0.9 |yeard sun = 2.9 |source 1 = Met Éireann{{cite web | url = http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/1971-2000/claremorris.html | title = Claremorris 1971–2000 averages | publisher = Met Éireann | access-date = 27 May 2015}}{{cite web | url = http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/extreme_maxtemps.pdf | title = Absolute Maximum Air Temperatures for each Month at Selected Stations | publisher = Met Éireann | access-date = 27 May 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124135/http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/extreme_maxtemps.pdf | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | url-status = dead | url = http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/extreme-mintemps.pdf | title = Absolute Minimum Air Temperatures for each Month at Selected Stations | publisher = Met Éireann | access-date = 27 May 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170129063649/http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/extreme-mintemps.pdf | archive-date = 29 January 2017 | url-status = dead |date=January 2011

Notable people

Claremorris is the birthplace of:

References

References

  1. "Census Mapping - Towns: Claremorris - Population Snapshot". Central Statistics Office.
  2. "Clár Chlainne Mhuiris/Claremorris". [[Government of Ireland]].
  3. (13 January 2017). "Claremorris – fastest growing town in County Mayo".
  4. (16 October 2023). "Four Mayo villages see population fall amid county-wide population rise".
  5. O'Hara, Bernard. (1982). "Mayo: Aspects of Its Heritage".
  6. "Saint Colman's Catholic Church, D'Alton Street, Clare, Claremorris, Mayo". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
  7. (April 2016). "Sapmap Area - Settlements - Claremorris". Central Statistics Office.
  8. "Claremorris Area Profile". Central Statistics Office.
  9. "Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Census Home Page".
  10. (21 July 2022). "Company in receivership seeks to prevent a Davy executive buying Mayo units".
  11. "Silverbridge Shopping Centre, Claremorris, Co. Mayo".
  12. "Claremorris Drama Festival".
  13. "Land of the Giants".
  14. "Land of the Giants".
  15. (2017-08-11). "A walk in McMahon Park, Claremorris".
  16. [http://www.claremorrisleisurecentre.ie Claremorris Leisure Centre]
  17. (16 December 2002). "Brennan to open €64m Knock bypass today". Irish Times.
  18. (1 August 2021). "The railway brought prosperity to Mayo in 1862". Connaught Telegraph.
  19. "Claremorris station". Irish Rail.
  20. (1 December 2023). "Minister Ryan confirms plans to clear Claremorris-Athenry rail line".
  21. "Weather Observing Stations - Claremorris - History". Met Éireann.
  22. [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=7930&cityname=Claremorris%2C+Ireland&units= Climate Summary for Claremorris]
  23. . (8 September 2021). ["03970: Claremorris (Ireland)"](https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=03970&ano=2021&mes=9&day=8&hora=12&min=0&ndays=30). *OGIMET*.
  24. (2018-09-20). "Patrick Cassidy".
  25. [https://www.dib.ie/biography/dalton-john-francis-a2358 D'Alton, John Francis] Dictionary of Irish Biography, October 2009
  26. "Dictionary of Irish Biography - Cambridge University Press".
  27. ''The Gray Family of Claremorris, Co. Mayo'', Thomas Ormsby Ruttledge, in ''The Irish Genealogist'' 7, 1989
  28. "JOHN HEGARTY THE CV".
  29. [https://www.dib.ie/biography/maguire-conor-alexander-a5354 Maguire, Conor Alexander] Dictionary of Irish Biography, October 2009.
  30. (16 September 2016). "County mourns the death of former star". Irish Independent.
  31. "Murphy, Delia".

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