Belmullet

The origin of the name Belmullet is not clear. It may have come from Irish Béal Muileat or Béal an Mhuileat, which has been translated as "mouth of the isthmus". Bernard O'Hara in Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage suggests that "A change from 'L' to 'R', which is quite common in Irish, may have given Béal an Mhuireat which in turn became Béal an Mhuirhead". It has also been suggested that the latter half of the name may refer to the fish or the star shape used in heraldry.O'Hara, Bernard. Mayo: Aspects of its Heritage. 1982. p. 79

According to Richard Pococke, in about 1715, Sir Arthur Shaen "began building a little town" where Belmullet now stands.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, an admiral chased pirates into Broadhaven Bay, hauled his boats across the isthmus, and caught up with them near the Iniskea Islands. To drain the area and form a passageway from Blacksod Bay into Broadhaven Bay, Shaen had a canal excavated, known thereafter as Shaen's Cut, large enough for small boats to pass through from one bay to the other. However, little development of the town occurred, and by 1752 the canal was choked up and impassable. Belmullet was the scene of Monster meetings of the Land League at the end of the 19th century. In the early 19th century Belmullet consisted of little more than a few thatched buildings.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In 1820, the first post office in Erris opened in the new town of Belmullet. In 1822, a coastguard station was built. William Henry Carter had inherited huge tracts of Shaen's land in Erris when he married Shaen's daughter and began to put plans in place to develop the town. William Henry Carter had inherited huge tracts of Shaen's land in Erris when he married Shaen's daughter and began to put plans in place to develop the town. Carter tasked engineer and Castlebar native Patrick Knight to design and plan the new town between Broadhaven and Blacksod bays. Knight published his town plan in his 1836 treatise "Erris in the Irish Highlands," where he described Belmullet as a 'mirage in the desert', positioned between two sheltered bays which provided potentially safe anchorage for Atlantic trade.{{cite book |last=Knight |first=Patrick |title=Erris in the Irish Highlands and the Atlantic Railway |publisher=M. Keene |location=Dublin |year=1836}} A new road was built which connected Belmullet with Castlebar, which was completed in 1824.{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of Ireland, containing the latest information from the most authentic sources.|last=Lawson|first=John Parker|publisher=Edinburgh Print. & Pub. Co.|year=1842|location=Edinburgh|pages=418}} In 1825, Carter built a pier large enough to accommodate vessels of 100 tons. Carter's stated objective was to "create a home market for produce that did not previously exist nearer than thirty miles by land," and his aim was to thrust the older village of An Geata Mór (Binghamstown), a village founded by the powerful Bingham family on the Mullet peninsula into a secondary position.Samuel Lewis, Topographical Dictionary of Ireland By 1826, the Erris Hotel was opened.Noone, Fr. Sean. Where the Sun Sets (1991)

In 1829, Alexander Nimmo, an engineer on the Erris roads, wrote the following: "at Belmullet, the advance is quite surprising; the place only commenced four years ago; it now consists of about seventy respectable houses etc... five ships were loaded with grain and kept; iron hoops and coal were imported; spirits, beer and wine. British manufacturers and tea and sugar were sold; the produce of the fisheries were admitted to a market."Nimmo, Commissioners of Public Works Report 1 & 2 (1835)

In 1836, Patrick Knight documented in his book "Erris in the Irish Highlands" that during the construction of the Belmullet-Bangor road, workers "unnecessarily destroyed the fine dolmen in the glen rather than divert the road a few feet to one side".

File:165 of 'Erris, in the “Irish Highlands,” and the “Atlantic Railway.” (With Map.)' (11012152725).jpg

By 1831, the population of Belmullet was 585. A Roman Catholic chapel was built in 1832 at the cost of £300. There was a daily postal service between Ballina and Belmullet. In 1833, a courthouse was built also costing £300 which held weekly court sessions, demonstrating that the town was rapidly growing. In the 1830s, a visitor described it as "the youngest town in Ireland and like all young things it is comparatively fresh and fair. The town itself contains a few thatched cabins but consists of small streets of moderately sized slated houses branching from a little square, or market place; the shops looked to be well furnished with not only necessaries but articles conducive to comfort and convenience. Buildings are going on and speculation is progressing." He also commented that the approach to the town was "spoiled by deformed, wretched bog huts."Otway, Caesar. Sketches in Erris & Tyrawley (1841) Dublin Two new roads were built – one to the east went to Ballycastle and one to the south to Newport. The export of meal from the area to England started. The local Protestant Church was built in 1843. In 1845, work began to re-open the canal which had been constructed by Arthur Shaen. Because of the Irish Famine, the canal was not completed until 1851. During the Relief work for the Distress (in the middle of the Great Famine) in 1846 and 1847, the footpaths were formed and flagged.CSORPD5577 (1846)

File:Ballyglass Lighthouse.jpg

In the latter half of the 19th century rural unrest was a common occurrence across Mayo. In November 1881, over 100 police officers needed in order to protect two process servers who were serving writs in the town. The police were confronted by an angry crowd throwing rocks and sticks. The police were obliged to charge the crowd and fire buckshot resulting in a large number of injuries. The police made 20 arrests.{{Cite news|title=The state of Ireland|date=4 November 1881|work=Western Gazette}}

A workhouse was erected on the site of the current hospital. The Head of the Treasury, Charles Trevelyan, notoriously decreed that relief was only to be given to workhouse people. Starving people crowded to the workhouse. At one stage at the height of the Famine, 3,000 people were recorded as being in Belmullet workhouse.

The area around Belmullet was severely impacted by the Great Irish Famine in the 19th century and in the next 100 years many people emigrated from the area to the United States and to England. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many proposals were made regarding the development of a railway line in to Belmullet and Erris region. Three routes were surveyed and discussed:

• Route One: Ballina – Ballycastle – Belmullet
• Route Two: Newport – Mulrany – Belmullet
• Route Three: Ballina – Crossmolina – Belmullet

People along these routes lobbied for the railway lines to pass through their district. However the merchants of Belmullet were more skeptical and feared that the introduction of a railway line would adversely affect their trading position, putting Ballina within easy reach of the population. Plans for a Blacksod railway terminus, which would have served trans-Atlantic shipping, were therefore postponed. Many still pressed the authorities for a rail line, and this movement gained momentum during the latter days of the First World War, when it was proposed that a line would improve lines of communication between both London and Canada, and between London and the United States. However, when the war ended in 1918, the hopes for a railway service to Blacksod ended with it. In the early 1920, the Sligo Steam Navigation Company ran weekly sailings between Belmullet, Sligo and Liverpool.{{Cite news|title=Sligo Steam Navigation Company (advert)|date=November 20, 1920|work=Sligo Champion}}

In July 1865, two local men – Richard Barrett and James Hogan were found guilty of piracy. They were convicted of plundering the schooner Elizabeth McClure of Indian meal near the island of Iniskea. Both men were sentenced to five years hard labour.{{Cite news|date=18 July 1865|title=Assize intelligence – County Mayo|newspaper=The Irish times}}

Belmullet established a monthly cattle fair, and the town began to take trade from An Geatta Mór. The Bingham family fought back, but their village was more or less deserted by the cattle traders by the late 19th century.

File:Belmullet.JPG

John Millington Synge, author of "The Playboy of the Western World" and The Aran Islands, visited Belmullet in 1904, and reported: Belmullet in the evening is noisy and squalid, lonely and crowded at the same time and without appeal to the imagination. So at least one stays for a moment. When one has passed six times up and down hearing a gramophone in one house, a fiddle in the next, then an accordion and a fragment of a traditional lullaby, with many crying babies, pigs and donkeys and noisy girls and young men jostling in the darkness, the effect is not indistinct. All the light comes from doors or windows of shops. Last night was St. John’s Eve and bonfires were lighted all over the country, the largest of all being placed at the Town Square at Belmullet. Today, again, there was a large market in the square, where a number of country people, with their horses and donkeys, stood about bargaining for young pigs, heather brooms, homespun flannels, second hand clothing, blackening brushes, tinker’s goods and many other articles.{{Cite web |url=http://towns.mayo-ireland.ie/ |title=Ireland - Message Boards - Welcome |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=29 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329043519/http://towns.mayo-ireland.ie/ |url-status=dead }}

One of the two R.I.C. Policemen killed in the January 1919 Soloheadbeg ambush – Constable McDonnell – was born in Belmullet. The event triggered the War of Independence. Constable McDonnell was 50 at the time of his death. He left a widow and five children.{{Cite news|title=Men Drive Away in Cart Laden with Gelignite|date=January 22, 1919|work=Freemans Journal}}

On 26 October 1919 a young boy was shot and wounded by a sentry guarding the local wireless station. The boy was driving cows near his home early in the morning, when he was shot in the shoulder. The incident caused great indignation among the local population.{{Cite news|title=Youth shot by sentry near Belmullet|date=October 27, 1919|work=Evening Herald}}

In June 1920, an R.I.C. policeman was killed and three were injured during a riot on the main street of the town. The policemen intervened to arrest a man for causing a disturbance during a fair. The crowd attending the fair resented the intervention and turned on the police officers. The police retreated and took refuge in a house, One of the officers – Constable Doogue – was later discovered on the street with a wound to the head. When the doctor arrived, he was found to be dead.{{Cite news|title=Policeman killed in Belmullet Disturbance|date=June 17, 1920|work=Belfast Newsletter}}

In late August 1920, the local Coastguard station was attacked. The raiders were interrupted by a police patrol, and shots were exchanged. The raiders escaped but not before the station was destroyed.{{Cite news|title=Raiders surprised|date=September 4, 1920|work=Skibbereen Eagle}}

During the latter stages of the conflict, a Republican Court was established in the town. In January 1921 Two Ballina Solicitors – P. J. Ruttledge and Henry Bourke – were arrested and charged by the British military authorities for participating in the court. Mr. Ruttledge declined to recognize the British court and was subsequently jailed in Castlebar.{{Cite news|title=Ballina Solicitors charged|date=January 15, 1921|work=Connaught Telegraph}}

A breach of the Anglo Irish Truce occurred in the Town in October 1921. Two Republican Policemen were quelling a row that broke out in the evening after the town's regular fair. The Republican policemen were attacked by six R.I.C. officers. The fighting escalated as more RIC and IRA men joined the affray. Later, shots were exchanged by the two sides.{{Cite news|title=Republicans stated to have been beaten in Belmullet|date=October 22, 1921|work=Freemans Journal}}

The conflict was fought between two opposing groups of Irish nationalists: those who supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty under which the Irish Free state was established, and the republican opposition, for whom the Treaty represented a betrayal of the Irish Republic. When hostilities broke out, Belmullet was under the control of the Republican opposition, also known as irregulars.

During the early weeks of the Civil War, Belmullet was under the control of the Irregulars. However, support for the Republican cause was not universal. A prominent member of the North Mayo brigade of the IRA – Mr P. Kelly – was arrested by the Irregulars due to his support of the government. Kelly was the Assistant Clerk of the Belmullet Union.{{Cite news|date=20 July 1922|title=Union clerk arrested|work=The Freemans Journal}} In July 1922, the National Army entered Mayo and established control over the county on behalf of the Free State government. However, Irregular activity continued in Belmullet for months after. In September, Irregulars entered the town, took petrol and left. The National Army pursued the irregulars and arrested six of them.{{Cite news|date=25 September 1922|title=Chases in Co Mayo|work=The Freemans journal}} In October 1922, Irregulars established temporary control over the town. They stopped all traffic and raided all the banks in the town taking away a large sum of money. They also forced all the local public houses to pay a "Republican licensing fee". The mail van was also held up.{{Cite news|date=20 October 1920|title=Raids by Irregulars|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

On 6 August 1940, during the Second World War, Garda William Cullen of Belmullet station received a phone call from coast-watchers at the nearby Annagh Head lookout post. He learned that the Atlantic currents had washed ashore the body of a British soldier. From his army pay-book, Cullen identified 21-year-old Donald Domican of the 5th Battalion, the Welsh Regiment. On the evening of 6 August, Domican's body was brought to Belmullet hospital. He was buried the following day at the Church of Ireland cemetery in the town. The next day another body of a British soldier was washed up at the same site.{{Cite journal|last=Kennedy|first=Michael|title='Men that came in with the sea': the Coastwatching Service and the sinking of the Arandora Star|journal=History Ireland|volume=16|issue=3|publisher=History Publications Ltd|location=Dublin|date=May 2008|url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/men-that-came-in-with-the-sea-the-coastwatching-service-and-the-sinking-of-the-arandora-star|issn=0791-8224|oclc=29768725|access-date=10 July 2015|archive-date=11 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711061337/http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/men-that-came-in-with-the-sea-the-coastwatching-service-and-the-sinking-of-the-arandora-star/|url-status=live}}

In 1958, Belmullet became the site of a conflict between Erskine Childers, Minister of Lands, and local workmen who refused to construct a fence through an area thought to be occupied by fairies. The Government was unable to find other workers to build the fence, so finally relented and "bent" the fence around the disputed hill.{{Cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/04/24/89085111.html?pageNumber=5|title=Ireland Bows to Fairies and Will Shift a Fence|access-date=2 April 2018|archive-date=28 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228182158/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/04/24/89085111.html?pageNumber=5|url-status=live}}

In the early 21st century, improvement in the Irish economy has reversed population decline, and Belmullet has seen some immigration. Despite job losses in the area since the recession started in 2007, as with all over Ireland, Belmullet and the Mullet Peninsula has good natural resources in terms of fishing,{{cite web |url=http://www.northwestfisheries.ie/fishing/sea/belmullet.htm |title=Sea Fishing around Belmullet |date= |website=northwestfisheries.ie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420214000/http://www.northwestfisheries.ie/fishing/sea/belmullet.htm |archive-date=20 April 2009}} tourism and small local industries are present such as Mayo Mats and the Corrib Gas terminal.{{cite web |url=http://www.vermilionenergy.ie/our-responsibility/communityengagement/community-benefits.cfm |title=Community Benefits |work=Vermillion Energy |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228182213/http://www.vermilionenergy.ie/our-responsibility/communityengagement/community-benefits.cfm |url-status=live}}

File:Belmulletartscentre.jpg

Although officially part of the Mayo Gaeltacht, it is both an English- and Irish-speaking town. The area plays host in summer months to students enrolled in local Irish language summer schools.

John Millington Synge's play The Playboy of the Western World was based on his experience of the Belmullet area. Synge also wrote a poem entitled "Danny" about a character who was murdered by a group of local men as he was on his way back into Belmullet from Bangor Erris.

The area is popular for fishing, with both fresh-water and sea-angling off Broadhaven Bay. Watersports are also common, with surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and sailing.

Belmullet is the nearest town to the Carne Golf Links, the last complete design from renowned Irish golf architect Eddie Hackett, frequently listed in the top 100 golf courses in the world.

This area of Erris was the setting for the Ulster Cycle legend of the Táin Bó Flidhais or the Mayo Táin.

In 2007, a new arts centre, Áras Inis Gluaire, opened in the town. Its mission was to become a leading bilingual arts centre in Ireland. As well as serving as the towns library and art gallery, the centre has a state of the art theatre, which has seen many accomplished artists perform in the town, among them being Mick Flannery and Damien Dempsey.[http://www.arasinisgluaire.ie/index.php Aras Inis Gluarie] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226112638/http://www.arasinisgluaire.ie/index.php |date=26 February 2013 }}

File:Belmullet festival.jpg

Since being included on the Wild Atlantic Way, and after the wider Erris region was named 'Best Place to Go Wild in Ireland' by The Irish Times in 2014, the town has experienced an increase in tourism.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/belmullet-aims-to-become-ireland-s-next-dingle-1.4137569|publisher=The Irish Times|first=Joan|last=Geraghty|date=3 January 2020|title=Belmullet aims to become Ireland's 'next Dingle'|access-date=31 December 2021|archive-date=13 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113171752/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/belmullet-aims-to-become-ireland-s-next-dingle-1.4137569|url-status=live}}

• Féile Iorras – International Arts Festival held in the town for a period of about ten days each July. It was set up in 1996 by Mayo County Council Arts Office to promote understanding and integration between the people of Erris and communities throughout the world. The festival encompasses all forms of folk art from dancing to visual arts to music. All the pubs in Belmullet participate.
• Lá an Logha – 15 August (also known as Ladies Day) each year sees the busiest time of the year in the town. This festival started off as a farmer's market and a day for men to propose to their future wives and go parading around the town with her on this special day.{{cite web |url=http://www.belmullet-accommodation.com/belmullet_erris.php |title=Drom Caoin – B&B and Self Catering Apartments |publisher=Belmullet-accommodation.com |access-date=2015-07-10 |archive-date=4 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204063023/http://www.belmullet-accommodation.com/belmullet_erris.php |url-status=live }}
• Féile na Seachtaine, another arts based festival follows Lá an Logha.{{cite web |url=http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/whats-on/listings/product/?fid=FI_61991 |title=Belmullet Gala Arts Festival – Féile na Seachtaine |date=14–20 August 2011 |website=discoverireland.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928165255/http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/whats-on/listings/product/?fid=FI_61991 |archive-date=28 September 2011}} The town's annual Heritage Day is held during this time. Many people who have emigrated from Erris return to the area during the month of August.

{{Weather box

|location = Belmullet, (1981–2010, extremes 1956–present)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 13.9

|Feb record high C = 15.1

|Mar record high C = 19.5

|Apr record high C = 24.4

|May record high C = 26.6

|Jun record high C = 28.3

|Jul record high C = 29.9

|Aug record high C = 27.7

|Sep record high C = 25.4

|Oct record high C = 22.1

|Nov record high C = 16.3

|Dec record high C = 14.9

|year record high C = 29.9

|Jan high C = 8.9

|Feb high C = 9.1

|Mar high C = 10.4

|Apr high C = 12.2

|May high C = 14.6

|Jun high C = 16.2

|Jul high C = 17.6

|Aug high C = 17.8

|Sep high C = 16.5

|Oct high C = 13.7

|Nov high C = 11.0

|Dec high C = 9.2

|year high C = 13.1

|Jan mean C = 6.3

|Feb mean C = 6.4

|Mar mean C = 7.6

|Apr mean C = 9.0

|May mean C = 11.2

|Jun mean C = 13.3

|Jul mean C = 14.9

|Aug mean C = 15.0

|Sep mean C = 13.6

|Oct mean C = 11.1

|Nov mean C = 8.5

|Dec mean C = 6.7

|year mean C = 10.3

|Jan low C = 3.7

|Feb low C = 3.6

|Mar low C = 4.7

|Apr low C = 5.8

|May low C = 7.9

|Jun low C = 10.4

|Jul low C = 12.2

|Aug low C = 12.2

|Sep low C = 10.7

|Oct low C = 8.4

|Nov low C = 6.0

|Dec low C = 4.2

|year low C = 7.5

|Jan record low C = -8.1

|Feb record low C = -6.3

|Mar record low C = -5.7

|Apr record low C = -2.6

|May record low C = -0.4

|Jun record low C = 1.4

|Jul record low C = 5.1

|Aug record low C = 3.1

|Sep record low C = 0.8

|Oct record low C = -1.7

|Nov record low C = -4.5

|Dec record low C = -7.6

|year record low C = -8.1

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 134.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 97.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 99.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 72.0

|May precipitation mm = 70.4

|Jun precipitation mm = 72.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 79.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 101.9

|Sep precipitation mm = 101.8

|Oct precipitation mm = 145.9

|Nov precipitation mm = 134.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 137.4

|year precipitation mm = 1244.8

|unit precipitation days = 1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 19

|Feb precipitation days = 16

|Mar precipitation days = 17

|Apr precipitation days = 13

|May precipitation days = 13

|Jun precipitation days = 12

|Jul precipitation days = 14

|Aug precipitation days = 15

|Sep precipitation days = 15

|Oct precipitation days = 19

|Nov precipitation days = 20

|Dec precipitation days = 19

|year precipitation days =

|Jan snow days = 4.5

|Feb snow days = 4.2

|Mar snow days = 3.1

|Apr snow days = 1.4

|May snow days = 0.1

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.0

|Nov snow days = 0.9

|Dec snow days = 3.0

|year snow days = 17.3

|Jan humidity = 81.7

|Feb humidity = 79.1

|Mar humidity = 77.5

|Apr humidity = 73.7

|May humidity = 73.3

|Jun humidity = 77.2

|Jul humidity = 79.7

|Aug humidity = 79.2

|Sep humidity = 77.9

|Oct humidity = 80.0

|Nov humidity = 82.3

|Dec humidity = 84.3

|year humidity = 78.8

|Jan sun = 43.4

|Feb sun = 67.1

|Mar sun = 101.9

|Apr sun = 157.3

|May sun = 191.1

|Jun sun = 160.5

|Jul sun = 142.3

|Aug sun = 143.7

|Sep sun = 119.2

|Oct sun = 91.1

|Nov sun = 48.8

|Dec sun = 39.7

|year sun =

|source 1 = Met Éireann{{cite web

| url = http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/1981-2010/belmullet.html

| title = Belmullet 1981–2010 averages

| publisher = Met Éireann

| access-date = 13 January 2015

| archive-date = 3 March 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232908/http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/1981-2010/belmullet.html

| url-status = live

}}{{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

|df = dmy-all

}}{{cite web

|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

|df = dmy-all

}}

}}

The Belmullet Aerodrome is located {{convert|2|NM|lk=in}} west of the town.

Bus Éireann route 446 links Belmullet with Bangor Erris, Crossmolina and Ballina. There is one service a day in each direction, including Sundays. On Friday evenings an extra journey operates from Ballina.{{cite web|url=http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1279700047-446.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-06-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517022954/http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1279700047-446.pdf |archive-date=17 May 2012 |df=dmy }} Onward bus and rail connections are available at Ballina.

{{See also|Category:People from Belmullet}}

• Riocard Bairéad (Richard Barrett), poet{{cite web|url = https://www.dib.ie/biography/bairead-riocard-barrett-dick-a0324 | work = Dictionary of Irish Biography | title = Bairéad, Riocard (Barrett, Dick) | accessdate = 18 January 2025 | doi = 10.3318/dib.000324.v1 }}
• Chris Barrett, Gaelic footballer
• Rose Conway-Walsh, politician
• Sinead Diver, long-distance runner
• Philip Gaughan, sergeant
• Róisín Heneghan, architect{{cite news |title=Belmullet architect is elected to Aosdána |url=https://www.westernpeople.ie/news/belmullet-architect-is-elected-to-aosd%C3%A1na_arid-13068.html |date=29 March 2024 |work=Western People |access-date=5 October 2024}}
• James Kilroy, politician
• Jimmy Monaghan, musician
• Patrick H. Monaghan, soldier
• Ronan Murray, footballer
• Willie Joe Padden, Gaelic footballer
• Billy Joe Padden, Gaelic footballer
• Mary Reilly, academic

• Belmullet GAA
• Connacht Irish
• Kilcommon
• List of towns and villages in Ireland

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.vimeo.com/8668733 'Pipe Down' Winner of Best Feature Documentary: Waterford Film Festival 2009]

{{Gaeltacht}}

{{County Mayo}}

Category:Erris

Category:Gaeltacht places in County Mayo

Category:Gaeltacht towns and villages

Category:Populated coastal places in the Republic of Ireland

Category:Towns and villages in County Mayo