Partry
County Mayo in the West of Ireland
Partry parish lies between loughs Carra and Mask, world renowned wild brown trout lakes, on the Castlebar/Ballinrobe road, with the villages of Kilkeeran on the west Carra shore and Aughnish, Ballygarry and Derrymore on the Mask east shore. The old name for the parish is Ballyovey, while the existing name is derived from "Partraigh", the tribe living here in ancient times. The word "Boycott" became part of the English language due to the efforts of the Partry people and their priest to cut off all contacts with Captain Boycott, a disliked local land agent. Rev. Mon. James Horan, who conceived the idea of and developed Knock Airport, was born in Tooreen, Partry.
The countryside is undulating, made up of farmland, bog, and some scrubby woodland, with rocky outcrops and shorelines. Agriculture is almost the sole industry, with farms, none of them very big, being mostly owned by the same families for a number of generations. Archaeological remains of various periods are common throughout the parish, including such items as the holy well and the island monastic settlement remains off Ballygarry shore, and the old churches and Stone Age causeway crossing the Carra at Kilkeeran.
With a population of about 500, the parish has a Church, National School, community centre, post office, two good pubs and garda barracks. There are several ITB approved B&Bs, (two with their own harbours and boats for hire), two ITB approved self catering houses, holiday caravans, several boatmen with boats for hire, a small but modern cheese factory which also sells home produced honey, and a blacksmith making and selling useful, decorative ironware. On Saturday mornings during the season, local produce and crafts are for sale at the community centre.
