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Fore Abbey, County Westmeath
Photograph: JohnArmagh · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Province of Leinster

County Westmeath

An Iarmhí

“un EER-vee” · the west of Meath, from iar (west) + Mide (middle)

Known as The Lake County. For Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel and Derravaragh, the last of which is where the Children of Lir were said to have spent the first three hundred years of their nine hundred as swans.

Did you know? The Hill of Uisneach was the mythic centre of Ireland, where tradition says the five provinces met at the Catstone, and where Keating, writing in the 17th century, placed a great Bealtaine fire answered by fires across the island.
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Westmeath by the numbers
Leinster province 95,840 people · 2022 census 1,840 km² · 21st of 32 by size County town Mullingar -21% in the Famine · 141,300 people in 1841, 111,000 in 1851 (approx.) 12 baronies · 1,349 townlands 1930s folklore · the Schools' Collection ↗ 1 Olympic medallist born here 18 surnames 3 towns on the site 632 daily Irish speakers Highest point Mullaghmeen, 258 m 0 senior All-Irelands 30 notable people born here 1,617 historic buildings recorded Everything on the site about Westmeath ↓
Carlow Cavan Cork Donegal Dublin Clare Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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The history of Westmeath

Henry II granted the kingdom of Meath to Hugh de Lacy in 1172. When de Lacy's male line failed in 1241 the lordship was split between two great-granddaughters, and the parts were reunited in 1461. The east lay inside the Pale, but the west had become Gaelic again by the 14th century and was beyond the sheriff's reach, so in 1543 the Irish parliament divided the county: the east kept the name Meath and the west became Westmeath, with a new shire town at Mullingar.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on County Westmeath ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The chronology above is this site's own; where the two differ, the article is the one to check.

The land — from Wikipedia

Westmeath is the 20th largest of Ireland's 32 counties by area and the 22nd largest in terms of population. It is the sixth largest of Leinster's 12 counties in size and eighth largest in terms of population. The Hill of Uisneach in the barony of Moycashel is sometimes regarded as the notional geographical centre of Ireland although the actual geographic centre of Ireland lies in neighbouring County Roscommon. The summit of Mullaghmeen is the highest point in County Westmeath. At just 258 metres this makes it the lowest county top in Ireland.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Clans & surnames of Westmeath
Breen Ó Braoin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Braon, 'sadness' or 'sorrow'” Coffey Ó Cobhthaigh Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Cobhthach, 'victorious'” Cummins Ó Cuimín Gaelic sept & Norman · “descendant of Cuimín, a diminutive of cam, ‘bent’; or the Norman Comyn” Daly Ó Dálaigh Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Dálach, 'of the assembly'” Dillon Diolún Norman · “from de Leon” Drennan Ó Draighneáin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Draighneán, ‘blackthorn’” Geoghegan Mag Eochagáin Gaelic sept · “son of Eochagán, from Eochaidh — a name built on each, 'horse'” Higgins Ó hUiginn Gaelic learned family · “descendant of Uige, 'knowledge, skill'” Killeen Ó Cillín Gaelic septs (several) · “descendant of Cillín, a pet form of Ceallach” McGinley Mag Fhionnghaile Gaelic sept · “son of Fionnghal, ‘fair valour’” McLoughlin Mac Lochlainn Gaelic dynasty · “son of Lochlann, 'the Norse-lander'” Merrigan Ó Muireagáin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Muireagán, a diminutive of a name beginning Muir-” Mulhern Ó Maoilchiaráin Gaelic sept · “descendant of the servant of St Ciarán” Nugent Nuinseann Norman · “from Nogent in France” Scully Ó Scolaidhe Gaelic sept · “descendant of the scholar” Seery Ó Saoraidhe Gaelic sept (from a Norse personal name) · “a later form of Ó Síoghradha, descendant of Síoghraidh, the Norse Sigefrith” Shiel Ó Siadhail Gaelic sept · “descendant of Siadhal” Tormey Ó Tormaigh Gaelic-Norse · “descendant of Thormodr — a common Norse personal name”

Tap a name for its full page — story, homeland map and neighbours. Or see all surnames from County Westmeath, with the other counties each name is tied to.

Towns, saints and legends of Westmeath

Towns. Athlone Áth Luain (22,869, 2022), Mullingar An Muileann gCearr (22,667, 2022), Moate An Móta (3,013, 2022). What every town name means →

Legends set here. Hill of Uisneach · Lough Derravaragh — the Children of Lir. On the atlas →

First names that belong here. Fionnuala, Feichín, Ériu, Banba, Fódla.

Irish in Westmeath today

At the 2022 census, 33,598 people in Westmeath said they could speak Irish. 632 speak it every day outside school, and 1,786 weekly.

3 primary schools here teach entirely through Irish (2025/26, 549 pupils).

CSO, Census 2022, table SAP2022T3T2CTY. Every county compared →

The top of Westmeath

Mullaghmeen (An Mullach Mín), 258 metres, in the North Midlands.

Rivers and loughs: River Shannon, River Inny, River Brosna, Lough Ree, Lough Sheelin.

MountainViews, via Wikipedia. Every county's highest point → · Rivers and loughs →

Westmeath in the All-Ireland

Hurling: no senior title.
Football: no senior title.

Every county's All-Ireland titles →

Born in Westmeath

From Wikidata: people whose recorded birthplace is in the county, who have a Wikipedia article and are no longer living, with dates shown only where the article confirms them, ordered by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in. Traditional birthplaces of early saints are as Wikidata records them. Dates are left off where the sources disagree.

People in Westmeath, census by census

Westmeath had 141,300 people in 1841 and has 95,840 now (-32%). Its peak was 141,300 in 1841; its low point 52,861 in 1961, -63% of 1841. It has never regained the population it had before the Famine.

1821183118411851186118711881189119011911192619361946195119561961196619711979198119861991199620022006201120162022
128,819136,872141,300111,40790,87978,43271,79865,10961,62959,98656,81854,70654,94954,46354,12252,86152,90053,57059,88561,52363,37961,88063,31471,85879,34686,16488,77095,840

Census returns as tabulated in the county's Wikipedia article. All 32 counties, 1821 to today →

Hidden Westmeath — the places the buses miss
  • Hill of Uisneach
    The mythic navel of Ireland, where the five provinces met at the Catstone and the great Bealtaine fire was lit — answered by fires on hills across the island.
On the ground in Westmeath
  • Bealin High Cross · high cross
  • 12 castles · Athlone Castle, Ballinlough Castle, Castlelost Castle, Clonyn Castle, Killua Castle and more

Every pin is placed by its documented coordinates. All the monuments of Ireland →

Everything on the site about County Westmeath

The county

History

Monuments and heritage

Coast and country

People and culture

Quick answers
What is the Irish name for County Westmeath?

An Iarmhí. Westmeath is one of the 12 counties of Leinster (Cúige Laighean).

Who ruled County Westmeath in the Middle Ages?

Around 1014 it was held by Mide (Kingdom of Meath); by 1450, The English Pale. The full era-by-era chronology is on this page.

What surnames come from County Westmeath?

Names historically associated with Westmeath include Breen, Coffey, Cummins, Daly, Dillon, Drennan, Geoghegan, Higgins, among others.

What does An Iarmhí mean?

An Iarmhí, said “un EER-vee”, means the west of Meath — from iar (west) + Mide (middle). Literally the western middle. Split from Meath in 1543.

What is the population of County Westmeath?

95,840 at the 2022 census, against 141,300 in 1841, before the Famine.

What is the county town of Westmeath?

Mullingar. County Westmeath covers about 1,840 km², which makes it the 21st largest of the 32 counties.

Who are famous people from County Westmeath?

Among the best-known people born in Westmeath are Kenneth Edgeworth, John J. Glennon, Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, Joe Dolan, George Wade, John McCormack. The full list, with their birthplaces, is on this page.

What did the Famine do to County Westmeath?

The census counted 141,300 people in Westmeath in 1841 and 111,000 in 1851 (the 1851 figure is approximate): a change of -21% in ten years, through death and emigration.

Sources for this page

A clean copy for school projects or the family file; collapsed sections print in full.

The chronology of who held the county is this site's own reading of the standard histories onto today's county borders, and says so where the fit is rough. Quoted passages are marked and licensed. Spotted an error? Say so — corrections are credited.

Trace your ancestors in Westmeath

Free, from the holding institutions. How to begin: the six-step guide → · Spotted an error on this page? Suggest a correction.