Search Results for 'Richard Bingham'

Belcarra was bathed in the sunshine last Friday. The air conditioning in the car was insufficient to combat the record-breaking temperatures, so a stop off at Cunningham’s Costcutter for a cold drink on the way to the historic Ballinafad House was required. The beauty and tranquillity of this carefully manicured, quiet, rural hamlet belie the fact that Belcarra was at the centre of the justice system in the county for a brief time in the seventeenth century.

Anyone who has watched 'The Duchess', the 2008 film adaptation of Amanda Foreman's excellent biography of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, will be aware of the sad parallels between the life of Georgiana and Lady Diana Spencer. Georgiana's maiden name was Spencer; she was Diana's four times great aunt. Spencer Street, Spencer Park and the former Spencer Park House took their names from the Spencer family. In 1781, Lady Lavinia Bingham, daughter of Charles Bingham, 1st Earl of Lucan, married George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer. George was Georgiana's brother.

The street names of Castlebar are each a chapter heading in the long and fascinating history of the town. The origin of some of the street names leaves little room for debate.

We know very little about manmade piers and quays along the western seaboard before the beginning of the 19th century, when a lavish programme of safe harbours were built not only to encourage fishing, but as relief programmes in times of distress. It was also an attempt to replace the activities of piracy and smuggling with an industry based on the believed bounty from the sea.