20/05/2026
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
North Mayo Heritage Centre profiles William Henry Carter (1783-1859), Belmullet Town’s founder.
We look forward to forthcoming community consultation meetings which will be organised by Mayo County Council to discuss options for significant public realm improvements to Carter Square and Main Street (formerly William Street) to make these principal urban spaces safer, more accessible, comfortable and inclusive of all, alongside plans to combat dereliction in our town core and improve urban permeability through the integration of a new public library on Main Street.
We would like to take this opportunity to again thank the Irish Architecture Foundation for their selection of Belmullet Town in 2023 as one of five towns nationally to take part in their Reimagine Hometown project which initiated and developed these plans for public realm transformation, placing Carter Square back as the focal point and public assembly of Belmullet and Erris.
Ní neart go cur le chéile!
𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥
(Article from Mayo Heritage Newsletter)
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 (𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵) 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱. 𝗡𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁. 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺?
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 (1783–1859) 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.
𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁, which was to replace Binghamstown (An Geata Mór) 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 ‘𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹’. To facilitate the large number of visitors to the area, another hotel, the '𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹' 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:
𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵: 𝘉é𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘮𝘶𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘞. 𝘏. 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘌𝘴𝘲. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 319 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘴, 3 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 19 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 220 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘨, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩-𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 17 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 “𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵”. 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.
The famous writer, John Millington Synge, author of 'The Pl***oy of The Western World', visited Belmullet in 1904 and reported: ‘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'
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 “the square” and hosts markets, gatherings, and social events where locals and visitors congregate together. It’s a vital part of Belmullet’s identity.
Its name stands as a reminder of the contributions made by a man who, through vision and enterprise, helped shape the town’s 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 Carter’s arrival kicking off the festivities.
𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴:
𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰-𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥.𝘪𝘦
𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰.𝘪𝘦
𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴.𝘪𝘦
𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵200
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