[citation needed] During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, an admiral chased pirates into Broadhaven Bay, hauled his boats across the isthmus, and caught up with them near the Iniskea Islands.

Carter tasked engineer and Castlebar native Patrick Knight to design and plan the new town between Broadhaven and Blacksod bays.

Knight published his town plan in his 1836 treatise "Erris in the Irish Highlands," where he described Belmullet as a 'mirage in the desert', positioned between two sheltered bays which provided potentially safe anchorage for Atlantic trade.

Carter's stated objective was to "create a home market for produce that did not previously exist nearer than thirty miles by land," and his aim was to thrust the older village of An Geata Mór (Binghamstown), a village founded by the powerful Bingham family on the Mullet peninsula into a secondary position.

[8] In 1829, Alexander Nimmo, an engineer on the Erris roads, wrote the following: "at Belmullet, the advance is quite surprising; the place only commenced four years ago; it now consists of about seventy respectable houses etc... five ships were loaded with grain and kept; iron hoops and coal were imported; spirits, beer and wine.

In 1833, a courthouse was built also costing £300 which held weekly court sessions, demonstrating that the town was rapidly growing.

The town itself contains a few thatched cabins but consists of small streets of moderately sized slated houses branching from a little square, or market place; the shops looked to be well furnished with not only necessaries but articles conducive to comfort and convenience.

In November 1881, over 100 police officers needed in order to protect two process servers who were serving writs in the town.

Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many proposals were made regarding the development of a railway line in to Belmullet and Erris region.

However the merchants of Belmullet were more skeptical and feared that the introduction of a railway line would adversely affect their trading position, putting Ballina within easy reach of the population.

[13] In July 1865, two local men – Richard Barrett and James Hogan were found guilty of piracy.

[14] Belmullet established a monthly cattle fair, and the town began to take trade from An Geatta Mór.

The Bingham family fought back, but their village was more or less deserted by the cattle traders by the late 19th century.

When one has passed six times up and down hearing a gramophone in one house, a fiddle in the next, then an accordion and a fragment of a traditional lullaby, with many crying babies, pigs and donkeys and noisy girls and young men jostling in the darkness, the effect is not indistinct.

Last night was St. John’s Eve and bonfires were lighted all over the country, the largest of all being placed at the Town Square at Belmullet.

Today, again, there was a large market in the square, where a number of country people, with their horses and donkeys, stood about bargaining for young pigs, heather brooms, homespun flannels, second hand clothing, blackening brushes, tinker’s goods and many other articles.

[16] On 26 October 1919 a young boy was shot and wounded by a sentry guarding the local wireless station.

The police retreated and took refuge in a house, One of the officers – Constable Doogue – was later discovered on the street with a wound to the head.

In January 1921 Two Ballina Solicitors – P. J. Ruttledge and Henry Bourke – were arrested and charged by the British military authorities for participating in the court.

A prominent member of the North Mayo brigade of the IRA – Mr P. Kelly – was arrested by the Irregulars due to his support of the government.

[22] In July 1922, the National Army entered Mayo and established control over the county on behalf of the Free State government.

[24] On 6 August 1940, during the Second World War, Garda William Cullen of Belmullet station received a phone call from coast-watchers at the nearby Annagh Head lookout post.

[25] In 1958, Belmullet became the site of a conflict between Erskine Childers, Minister of Lands, and local workmen who refused to construct a fence through an area thought to be occupied by fairies.

[26] In the early 21st century, improvement in the Irish economy has reversed population decline, and Belmullet has seen some immigration.

Despite job losses in the area since the recession started in 2007, as with all over Ireland, Belmullet and the Mullet Peninsula has good natural resources in terms of fishing,[27] tourism and small local industries are present such as Mayo Mats and the Corrib Gas terminal.

John Millington Synge's play The Playboy of the Western World was based on his experience of the Belmullet area.

Synge also wrote a poem entitled "Danny" about a character who was murdered by a group of local men as he was on his way back into Belmullet from Bangor Erris.