In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described County Westmeath like this:
Westmeath, an inland co. of Leinster province, Ireland; is bounded E. by co. Meath, S. by King's co., W. by cos. Longford and Roscommon, being separated from the latter by Lough Ree and the river Shannon, and N. by cos. Cavan (a small part of) and Meath; greatest length, NE. and SW., 45 miles; greatest breadth, NW. ...
and SE., 26 miles; average breadth, 19 miles; area, 453,453 ac. (21,865 water), or 272 per cent, of the total area of Ireland; pop. 71,798, of whom 9272 per cent, are Roman Catholics, 679 Episcopalians, 074 Presbyterians, and 073 Methodists. The surface, with the exception of some bog in the S., is finely diversified with low hills, gentle undulations, and picturesque lakes. The land, both pasture and arable, is exceedingly fertile. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) The largest lakes are Loughs Ree, Dereveragh, Ennell, Owel, Lene, and Iron. The principal rivers are the Shannon, the Brosna, and they Inny. The co. is traversed by the Royal Canal and the Midland Great Western Railway. Westmeath comprises 12 bars.- Brawny, Clonlonan, Corkaree, Delvin, Farbill, Fartullagh, Fore, Kilkenny (West), Moyashel and Magheradernon, Moycashel, Moygoish, and Rathconrath; 57 pars, and 6 parts of pars.; and the towns of Athlone (part of) and Mullingar. For parliamentary purposes the county is divided into 2 divisions - viz., North Westmeath and South Westmeath, each returning 1 member.
Vision of Ireland presents long-run change by redistricting historical statistics to modern units. However, none of our modern units covers an area close to that of County Westmeath. If you want trends covering a particular location within the county, find it on our historical maps and then select "Tell me more".
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of County Westmeath | Map and description for the county, A Vision of Ireland through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofireland.org/place/20039
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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