living in castlebar

unit 1

Is Castlebar a good place to live in anymore ? What with the recession and all that the place seems to have become very despondant.
Also any truth to rumours we will soon be getting new neighbours from the regeneratio project in limerick?

jenno86

unit 1 wrote: »

Is Castlebar a good place to live in anymore ? What with the recession and all that the place seems to have become very despondant.
Also any truth to rumours we will soon be getting new neighbours from the regeneratio project in limerick?

They are already with us! Caused a bit of a ruckus a few weeks ago too. Castlebar is a grand town, I wouldn't want to live in any other town in Mayo! Got loads of great shops for the size of it. The nightlife is a major let down though, really need another nightclub, Mantra have had a monopoly for too long. The TF is too far off the beaten path to be any good, where the Kingsbridge was would have been a great place, but all thats there now is an empty shop unit. Anyone know whats going in there? Is there anything at all?


I think the centre of the town, Main St in particular should get some kind of regeneration. If they pedestrianised the street and done it up a bit it would be great for the town. Cobble the road, maybe one or town pubs would open and be able to have tables outside. Bring a bit of life to the street. Work on the river walk has started and if it goes to plan it will be a great addition to the town.

D0nners

I am going to be brutally honest, and this is just my opinion.
I find castlebar bleak and depressing.
Its not a very pretty town, although the mall can be quite cheerful on a warm summers day.
As mentioned above, the nightlife is terrible.
Jenno summed it up there when he described Mantra having a monopoly.
They really do.
They know that there is nowhere else for people to go when the pubs close so they get away with charging extortionate prices.
The place stinks also.
The only two pubs I like in the town are Johnny McHales (great guinness) and The Irish House.

finisklin

They should bring back the cricket on the mall....that would certainly be entertaining on a wet, Summer's day! :P

jenno86

finisklin wrote: »

They should bring back the cricket on the mall....that would certainly be entertaining on a wet, Summer's day! :P

Bring it back yourself! :pac:

whadabouchasir

jenno86 wrote: »

Anyone know whats going in there? Is there anything at all?

Boots I think.

jenno86

whadabouchasir wrote: »

Boots I think.

Ya, I heard that alright too. Not sure if it would be big enough though.

unit 1

Definitely gool idea to pedestrianise main street. Bring back pee:rolleyes:What about this new bridge across lough lannagh. Cant wait to hear councillors say waste of money blah blah so they can use it for their own pet projects.

jenno86

unit 1 wrote: »

Definitely gool idea to pedestrianise main street. Bring back pee:rolleyes:What about this new bridge across lough lannagh. Cant wait to hear councillors say waste of money blah blah so they can use it for their own pet projects.

Bring back pee? That project is going ahead with the bridge, looks cool too. Was in the Connaught a few weeks ago, fairly expensive as well if I recall.

finisklin

jenno86 wrote: »

Bring it back yourself! :pac:

I don't have any bats, wickets etc will a sliothar and a hurl do? :rolleyes:

Samhain

Bring back pee?

Reference to Padraig "Pee" Flynn who got the credit for alot of the State & EU funded developments in the early 90's e.g. The Library, Fire Station, Ring road, Council offices & Garda Station.

Castlebar used to be a great town to go out in up to about 5-6 years ago but about half the pubs in the town closing (including sone very popular ones like the Humbert) hasnt done it any favours. Alot of the regulars from the pubs that closed now drink in the house alot more and have got used to not going to the pub as often. You couldnt really blame them as most of the pubs that are left leave alot to be desired. There isnt much on in the line of pub entertainment either, the only regular music night (other than country or one man bands) would be Finbar Hobans nights in Mulroys Bar Ritz once a month which is good but sometimes the crowd can be small. People need to support nights like this more but it seems that most people think a good night out is standing in a crowded pub for 3 hours shouting over the same 20 chart songs on a loop for the entire night.

As regards late night establishments, the TF up to 2001 was one of the most best nightclubs in Connaught with 4 different rooms and a capacity of about 2000. Since that went downhill and eventually closed the only options for late night drinking are Mantra, The Lounge, Coxs and Bar One. Mantra is full of kids, The lounge have the cheek of asking for a tenner on the door to be packed in like sardines, Coxs is just unbearable and Bar One is just ok. I think another nightclub is badly needed, one with at least 2 rooms playing different types of music. That could breathe a bit of life into the town and may kick start some of the pubs into making a bigger effort with entertainment. "If you build it they will come" and all that.

jenno86

Samhain wrote: »

Castlebar used to be a great town to go out in up to about 5-6 years ago but about half the pubs in the town closing (including sone very popular ones like the Humbert) hasnt done it any favours. Alot of the regulars from the pubs that closed now drink in the house alot more and have got used to not going to the pub as often. You couldnt really blame them as most of the pubs that are left leave alot to be desired. There isnt much on in the line of pub entertainment either, the only regular music night (other than country or one man bands) would be Finbar Hobans nights in Mulroys Bar Ritz once a month which is good but sometimes the crowd can be small. People need to support nights like this more but it seems that most people think a good night out is standing in a crowded pub for 3 hours shouting over the same 20 chart songs on a loop for the entire night.

As regards late night establishments, the TF up to 2001 was one of the most best nightclubs in Connaught with 4 different rooms and a capacity of about 2000. Since that went downhill and eventually closed the only options for late night drinking are Mantra, The Lounge, Coxs and Bar One. Mantra is full of kids, The lounge have the cheek of asking for a tenner on the door to be packed in like sardines, Coxs is just unbearable and Bar One is just ok. I think another nightclub is badly needed, one with at least 2 rooms playing different types of music. That could breathe a bit of life into the town and may kick start some of the pubs into making a bigger effort with entertainment. "If you build it they will come" and all that.

Samhain wrote: »

Castlebar used to be a great town to go out in up to about 5-6 years ago but about half the pubs in the town closing (including sone very popular ones like the Humbert)

You're right there. The pubs left in the town are cat. Humbert was a great spot, everyone was every sad to see it go.

Samhain wrote: »

the TF up to 2001 was one of the most best nightclubs in Connaught

Yup, it was the place to go! Panama Jacks. Used to have a membership card, they would take your picture when you hammered and put it on it, needless to say this always brought a few laughs the next day!

Samhain wrote: »

Mantra, The Lounge, Coxs and Bar One. Mantra is full of kids, The lounge have the cheek of asking for a tenner on the door to be packed in like sardines, Coxs is just unbearable and Bar One is just ok

Mantra - Full of underage, smelly rip-off of a nightclub.
The Lounge - Slightly older crowd, Always wedged, can be good when not so wedged, another rip-off though.
Coxs - Very varied crowd when it comes to age, free in, can get very packed. This is where I find myself most nights at the end of the night.
Bar One - Free in, but lifeless. After 12.30am everyone floods to mantra.

So manys pubs are gone now, Humbert, Rowlands, Sunflower, Kingsbridge/Maximos, Flannellys. Such a poor selection in the town.

unit 1

Very noticeable now , the recession. Hard to even get a cup of tea before 9.30 during the week cafes dead empty. Why not bring back pee, sure when he was at his height everyone knew he lived in Brussels, maybe he could save us he wanted to pedestrianise main street 20 years ago. On second thoughts maybe Bev will do it instead:rolleyes:

whadabouchasir

unit 1 wrote: »

Why not bring back pee,

Imagine that,Pee back due to popular demand.

unit 1

sorry should have said pee hee hee

09828

LISTEN TO CRC FM FOR STRUCK ON HALLOWEEN AT HALF PAST 2

Condoms

Have to agree with a previous poster as pubs go Johnnys and the Irish House and The Castle INN are the only 3 pubs in town where its possible to enjoy a pint

yop

I was in place there on Spencer street, near enough to Blue Thunders, I THINK its Tolsters, but was in there for the first time about 2 weeks ago and have to say it was spot on, Sunday evening and night, Guinness was A1 and watched the golf there and chatted with my mates.

dozydelilah

yop wrote: »

I was in place there on Spencer street, near enough to Blue Thunders, I THINK its Tolsters, but was in there for the first time about 2 weeks ago and have to say it was spot on, Sunday evening and night, Guinness was A1 and watched the golf there and chatted with my mates.

ya your right tolsters is a grand little pub, yer man that owns it is dead on, don,t know him well or anything but he did something very decent for my family a few years ago, (a long story but he went out of his way) he probably doesn,t even realise he made uch an impact! anyway i drop in for a pint from time to time and its a friendly little pub, always clean and there,s a good pint

detoxkid

Anyone know if any bands are playing in Castlebar tomorrow night, maybe in Mulroys (Not the Chieftens in the TF):)

RMDrive

dozydelilah wrote: »

ya your right tolsters is a grand little pub, yer man that owns it is dead on, don,t know him well or anything but he did something very decent for my family a few years ago, (a long story but he went out of his way) he probably doesn,t even realise he made uch an impact! anyway i drop in for a pint from time to time and its a friendly little pub, always clean and there,s a good pint

Gerry Tolster is a true gentleman. He can always be depended on to support local clubs looking for sponsership.
Me and the missus were looking for breakfast one morning and stuck out heads in to see if he was serving food. He said he wasn't but to take and seat and he'd see what he could do. A short time later we were presented with a fine fryup! He didn't have to do that at all and I'm siure the few bob we gave him didn't make it worthwhile. I reckon he'd just one of the good guys.

BTW, I'm not in any way associated with tolsters. In fact if I walked into the pub this evening I'm sure he wouldn't have a clue who I was!!

Shiminay

Aye, he used to rend the Shamrock out in Breaffy when I were a lad and was always a real gent. Happy to support local events and clubs (was on the Rounders club committee for ages when I was playing too). I'd have a lot of time for him and hope the pub's still going strong for him.