County Galway · Connacht · An Creagán

About Mountbellew

Mountbellew is a town in County Galway, 42 km north-east of Galway city, with 774 people at the 2022 census. The Bellews' estate town on the N63, with a Tuesday market in a triangular square since the nineteenth century and the first agricultural college in Ireland.

Population: 774 (2022 census)
Where: 42 km from Galway, 149 km from Dublin
Position: 53.4695° N, 8.5019° W, 44 m above sea level
In Irish: An Creagán
Twinned with: Eliant, France, with Moylough
On the model: 1,263 buildings, 14 streets, 100 places in 37 kinds
Read more: Mountbellew on Wikipedia

New Fire Station Opened in Galway: The Connacht Tribune Saturday, October 20th, 1956 “The Minister for…
William Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Statue of racehorse in Mountbellew.
Sarah777, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Vintage day at Mountbellew Co Galway Ireland
John Healy, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

18th and 19th centuries
The Grattan-Bellews. The Bellew estate was the home of the Grattan-Bellew family, Galway parliamentarians in both centuries; the town, once called Creggaun, the rocky place, grew at its gate.
1818
The Franciscan Brothers. The order came from Milltown in Dublin at the Bellews' invitation, with land and a house, and ran a free primary school until 1884, then a boarding secondary school from 1875.
19th century
The Tuesday market. Christopher Dillon Bellew promoted the market that is still held in the triangular square every Tuesday; the old weigh-house across from it became a garage in the 1900s and is being redeveloped.
1904
The agricultural college. The Brothers turned from secondary to agricultural education and founded the first agricultural college in Ireland; from 1986 it worked with the forerunner of GMIT, and since 2022 it is a campus of the Atlantic Technological University.
1964 to 2021
Five senior titles. Mountbellew Moylough, in black and amber, won the Galway senior football championship in 1964, 1965, 1974, 1986 and 2021.
1999
Bobbyjo. A monument in the centre honours the racehorse that won both the Irish and the English Grand National.

The full history, 7 moments in order

What to see

The Bellew demesne4.1 km
The estate woodland, now forest walks and picnic places, with its man-made pleasure lake.
The old forge623 m
The forge kept as a museum, 600 m from the square.
The malt house
The old malt house, whose name a restaurant now carries.
St Mary's617 m
The Catholic church of the town.
The bridge
The village bridge with a milestone set into the middle of its parapet.
Ballinlass3.7 km
The memorial to the eviction of 1846, 3.7 km out.

All the things to see and do

Questions people ask

Where is Mountbellew?

In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 42 km north-east of Galway city and 149 km west of Dublin, on the N63 between Galway and Roscommon.

What is the population of Mountbellew?

774 people at the 2022 census.

What is there in Mountbellew?

On the map, 100 named places in 37 kinds: 10 places to eat and drink, 9 shops, 11 schools, churches and public buildings, and 59 things to see within 12 km.

What is Mountbellew known for?

The Franciscan Brothers' agricultural college, the first in Ireland, the Tuesday market, the Bellew estate woods and lake, and Bobbyjo, the Grand National horse.

Getting around

Mountbellew sits on the N63 between Galway and Roscommon. 2 bus stops and 1 car park are on the map.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Mountbellew" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-19). Population is the CSO census as listed there. Distances and everything on the model are OpenStreetMap.