History of Belmullet in Co. Mayo
The Erris area of North Mayo is rich in folklore, tradition and history and the ancient parish of Kilcommon, which once comprised the whole of 'mainland' Erris, was the largest parish in Ireland until its division into the present-day parishes of Kilcommon, Belmullet, Kiltane and Ballycroy.
The history of this ancient parish, in the Diocese of Killala, is a veritable odyssey beginning 5,000 years ago with the era of Ceide Fields and moving all the way down pre-history to the Columban monks who settled in Erris in the seventh century, the Composition of Connacht and the fate of the Spanish Armada in the sixteenth; the arrival of Oliver Cromwell in Ireland and the Shaens in Erris in the seventeenth century, the landing of the French in Killala in the eighteenth, the famine and evictions of the nineteenth, and the Congested Districts Board which at the turn of this century found that, of the 2,297 houses in Erris, only 512 had more than one room.
Erris and it's history are chronicled in many publications wherein Erris people, at home and abroad, can find a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the land of their birth and an awareness and love of their precious Irish and Christian heritage.
History Books
Where The Sun Sets - Fr Seán Noone
History of North Mayo - 368 pages covering the parishes of Ballycroy, Belmullet, Kilcommon & Kiltane with 56 pages of ground and aerial pictures, detailed references and bibliography.
Crossing The Channel - Fr Seán Noone
Aware of the many changes in the social, agricultural and other aspects of life over the past seventy-five years, the author documents the way of life that the vast majority of Erris people lived, during the latter half of the last century. A compelling read for Erris people at home and worldwide.