Castlebar - County Mayo - A look back at the Decade 2000-2009

It's hard to resist the temptation to look back at the end of a decade. Below are 10 pages picked more or less at random from the past Decade 2000-2009.

You can browse through the archive of front pages - 365 days a year. Individual dates are available right back to first archived page from 1997.

2000: One of the first archived pages from May 2000 - May 2000 had a military feel to it. At that stage there digital cameras were in their infancy and as the year went on the number of photos being published grew rapidly.

The Pentagon on Fire photographed by MM

2001: The year 2001 will undoubtedly be remembered even at the end of the Century. On 10 Sep 2001 Castlebar celebrated the opening of the National Museum of Ireland, Country Life, at Turlough House just outside Castlebar. The following day was 9/11 and things changed to put it mildly. The site's front page of 13 Sep 2001 gives a feel of the immediate reaction to the momentous events and the special compilation of comments from readers on the bulletin board gives the immediate response.

2002: In 2002, a year, on we were still remembering the victims of 9/11 but the site was also concerned about new taxi ranks in Castlebar and the front page poll asked about the demise of the dream (or was it a nightmare?) that was the Bertie Bowl.

2003: At random from 2003 the date 25 May 2003 had significance in that two full years of archived front pages had been built up. Michael Donnelly who is still a great supporter of castlebar.ie had photos of Davitt College graduates - class of 2003. On that day Rotary 25 year celebrations in Castlebar were mentioned and a look forward to the Blues Festival on the June Bank holiday 2003.

2004: From 2004 the Christmas Day front page had lots of input from the schools - their online magazines and photos from Christmas pageants plus Christmas Swim photos taken on the day at Lough Lannagh in keeping with the policy of updating the site on a voluntary basis 365 days a year.

2005: Sporting photographs have always been popular and Mayo's fortunes and misfortunes across the decade have featured on a regular basis. In 2005 this example from Michael Donnelly at the 2005 Connaught Final has a series of high speed action shots to keep GAA fans happy - just one of hundreds from Michael.

2006: A great feature of the Castlebar.ie site is the many contributions from readers both written and photographic. A random page from 2006 , 24 Nov 2006, has Kevin McDonald's photos from Lebanon featured on the front page. And what about those great pages by Frank Cawley? His great wit and excellent photos have brightened up many a day over the past decade. Just two examples of many contributors that make the site what it is.

2007: At random the 11 July 2007 has a featured photo from Jack Loftus - summer in Castlebar 2007. Jack is another stalwart of the site contributing many photos both new and old. Jack Loftus has been taking photos in Castlebar since the early 1960s and he generously shares these with the readers of Castlebar.ie - check them out in his photo pages.

2008: The TF Royal Theatre has gone from strength to strength over the past decade to the large auditorium that it is today. This page is from 28 August 2008. On that day also covered were domestic water rates featured in the poll and front page articles covered Shane Ward, Cycling results, Mayo Intercultural Action, Angling News, CRCFM programming, events at the Museum and updates from Castlebar Tidy Towns. The page also features a random photo delving back into the hundreds of pages archived over the years.

2009: St Patrick's Day always brings out the cameras and especially if it's a fine sunny day as it was in 2009 when hundreds of photos were uploaded to the site. The year ended with some very cold weather and lots of photos of snow and ice.

Many thanks to the hundreds of contributors and photographers that provide material on a daily basis to the site. Remember that it is an entirely voluntary site and totally dependent on the material supplied by contributors and a huge debt of gratitude is due to these volunteers. Why not browse through the archive of pages from www.castlebar.ie yourself enjoy the material and create your own highlights from the last decade of castlebar.ie? Here's looking forward to 2010 and the next decade.