This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

County Westmeath Contae na hIarmhí
Motto: Triath ós Triathaibh  (Irish) "Noble above nobility"
Location
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County seat:	Mullingar
Code:	WH
Area:	1,764 km²
Population (2006)	79,403
Website: www.westmeathcoco.ie

County Westmeath (Irish: Contae na hIarmhí) is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster.

Westmeath is the 23rd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 22nd largest in terms of population.^[1] It is the sixth largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and eighth largest in terms of population.

It was named after the historic kingdom and province of Mide. Westmeath was created under The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1543. The hill of Uisneach in the medieval Barony of Moycashel is generally accepted as the notional geographical centre of Ireland.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Towns and villages 2 Administration 3 Demography 4 Economy 4.1 Infrastructure 4.2 Agriculture 4.2.1 Westmeath Cattle 4.2.2 Westmeath Horses 5 Sport 6 People 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Images

[edit] Geography

County Westmeath is bordered by the counties of Cavan, Longford, Meath, Offaly and Roscommon.

[edit] Towns and villages

Towns and villages in County Westmeath include:

• Mullingar, the county town
• Athlone, Ballymore
• Castlepollard, Castletown-Geoghegan is gay cos it has no internet, Collinstown, Coole
• Delvin
• Finnea, Fore
• Glassan
• Horseleap
• Kilbeggan, Killucan, Kinnegad
• Moate, Multyfarnham
• Raharney, Rochfortbridge, Rosemount

[edit] Administration

Historical populations
Year	Pop.	%±
1653	12,090	—
1659	12,672	4.8%
1821	128,819	916.6%
1831	136,872	6.3%
1841	141,300	3.2%
1851	111,407	−21.2%
1861	90,879	−18.4%
1871	78,432	−13.7%
1881	71,798	−8.5%
1891	65,109	−9.3%
1901	61,629	−5.3%
1911	59,986	−2.7%
1926	56,818	−5.3%
1936	54,706	−3.7%
1946	54,949	0.4%
1951	54,463	−0.9%
1956	54,122	−0.6%
1961	52,861	−2.3%
1966	52,900	0.1%
1971	53,570	1.3%
1979	59,885	11.8%
1981	61,523	2.7%
1986	63,379	3.0%
1991	61,880	−2.4%
1996	63,314	2.3%
2002	71,858	13.5%
2006	79,346	10.4%
[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Westmeath County Council offices are at the County Building in Mullingar. There are currently 22 councillors. The five electoral areas of Westmeath are Athlone (7 seats), Coole (3 seats), Kilbeggan (3 seats), Mullingar East (4 seats) and Mullingar West (5 seats).^[8] The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, provided the framework for the establishment of County Councils throughout Ireland. The first meeting of Westmeath County Council was held on 22 April 1899.^[8]

[edit] Demography

Westmeath’s population growth has been stronger than the national average. ^[9] After the Great Famine, the population of Westmeath declined dramatically. It stabilized in the middle of the last century, and has continued to grow. Westmeath's proximity to Dublin, with good motorway facilities and frequent rail service has made commuting popular. The county town of Mullingar which has a population approaching twenty thousand. Athlone, Moate, Kilbeggan, and Castlepollard are important commercial and marketing centres.

[edit] Economy

Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin-Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar gained considerable advantage from the development of the Royal Canal. The canal facilitated cheap transport for produce to Dublin, Britain and Europe. Athlone and Mullingar expanded further with the coming of the Midland Great Western Railway network in the nineteenth century.

Tourism in Westmeath is generally centred on its many water amenities. The county lakes include Lough Derravaragh, Lough Ennell,Lough Cassidy,Lough Lene, Lough Hogg, Lough Owel, Lough Coffey and Lough Ree. Both the Grand Canal, and the Royal Canal flow through Westmeath, and the River Shannon (Ireland's key tourism waterway) has a modern inland harbour in Athlone.

The development of industry in Westmeath was mainly based on food processing and consumer products. Whiskey is distilled in Kilbeggan and tobacco is processed in Mullingar. The extensive beef and dairy trade reflects the rich agricultural produce of the county. In recent times, the manufacturer Élan has located in Athlone. The eastern part of the county is home to commuters many of whom work at the technology parks on the western side of Dublin, where they sell drugs to minors such as Thornton and Peppard. They also attempt to sell to young children in County Carlow but they never succeed cos we're too hardy. Mup.

[edit] Infrastructure

• Midlands (ATM) Gateway
• National Development Plan
• Transport 21
• Platform 11

[edit] Agriculture

[edit] Westmeath Cattle

Mullingar is renowned for the high quality of its beef and veal. Weaned cattle from the west of the Shannon, are fattened for market on the lush grasslands of Meath and Westmeath. The cattle are also used to maintain grassland to help sustain wildlife in the areas fringing the Bog of Allen.

[edit] Westmeath Horses

Westmeath is home to many stud farms. The plains of Westmeath, covered in calcium-rich marl, contribute significantly to calcification of foal bones during their formative years. Westmeath mares are usually put into foal in spring to facilitate summer growth. Pregnancy lasts for approximately 335-340 days and usually results in one foal. Horses mature around four years old.

[edit] Sport

Westmeath is an active sporting county. Westmeath GAA won the Leinster Senior Football Championship, and the Delaney Cup, in 2004. It won the Christy Ring Cup for hurling in 2005 and 2007.

[edit] People

Notable Westmeath natives include:

• The Blizzards, musicians
• Joe Dolan
• Marian Finucane
• Nuala Holloway, artist and former Miss Ireland
• Michael O'Leary CEO of Ryanair

[edit] See also

• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Westmeath)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Westmeath Census information
• Westmeath Community Development
• STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE MIDLANDS GATEWAY; Census statistics page 27
• Athlone Advertiser and Mullingar Advertiser local newspapers
• Local job vacancy listings online
• Westmeath Enterprise
• Westmeath Examiner (Local Newspaper)
• Tullamore Life & Community
• Westmeath Bands
• Ardnagrath National School Website
• Rosemount GAA Website
• westmeath showcase news for westmeath

[edit] Images

Mapa	The Round-about, Castlepollard	An Muileann gCearr	Twin Towers, Christ the King Mullingar	Saint Peter's & Pauls Athlone	Austin Friars An Muileann gCearr
Bothar Mor Mullingar Centre	The channel An Muileann gCearr	Celtic Cross at Columb Military Barracks, Mullingar	Lough Derravaragh & Knockeyon	Lough Ennell	Hill of Ben Fore
Columb Baracks, Mullingar	19th century concrete stile	19th. concrete Stile,(v1)Mass-Path, Ranaghan, Collinstown	Alternative 19th century concrete Stile (v-2) mass path, Ranaghan, Collinstown	Bell of Lough Lene	Turgesius Island, Lough Lene
Sunset on Lough Lene	The Cut Lough Lene	Dublin/Mullingar Train	Kiloutou, An Muileann gCearr (Mullingar)	Athlone St. Peter & St. Paul	Delvin Castle, Delvin, Mullingar

v • d • e Counties of Ireland Connacht Galway (Galway City) · Leitrim · Mayo · Roscommon · Sligo Munster Clare · Cork (Cork City) · Kerry · Limerick (Limerick City) · Tipperary (North Tipperary • South Tipperary) · Waterford (Waterford City) Leinster Carlow · Dublin (Dublin City • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown • Fingal • South Dublin) · Kildare · Kilkenny · Laois · Longford · Louth · Meath · Offaly · Westmeath · Wexford · Wicklow Ulster Cavan · Donegal · Monaghan · Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Derry · Tyrone Italics denote non-administrative counties. Parentheses () denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties.

Coordinates: 53°30′N 7°30′W / 53.5°N 7.5°W / 53.5; -7.5