thumb|Castlepollard / Cionn Torc & Lough Lene

thumb|A roundabout in Castlepollard

Castlepollard ( or Cionn Toirc) However, the name Cionn Toirc (anglicised 'Kinturk'), meaning "head of the boar", has also been applied to the town. The crowd surrounded them until they released the man. At approximately 5pm that day, members of the same force returned, this time armed with muskets. is preserved and now landscaped in a central triangular green. Surrounded by buildings from the Georgian period, a sculpture on the square depicts a scene from the locally centred legend of the Children of Lir. A plaque outlines the story in several languages. The setting of the legend is Lough Derravaragh. There are several ringforts on the surrounding high ground. Two ancient forts are of archaeological interest. Randoon is located in nearby Ranaghan, south west of Lough Lene, and Turgesius Island, is situated on Lough Lene. Turgesius was a Viking leader who sojourned here with a local lover while on respite from his seafaring. He held sway in Danish Dublin (Dyflin) and Shannon Viking port near Clonmacnoise.

Two churches serve the local Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland Christian communities. Kinturk House, the Georgian period Pollard residence, now serves as St. Peter's Centre. It was purchased by the Sacred Heart Sisters from the family in 1935, who added a chapel wing. A hospital designed by T.J. Cullen (1879–1947) was built c. 1935 and was part of "an extensive hospital construction programme initiated during the first decades of the Irish Free State" financed by the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake. The sisters operated a Mother and Baby home there for many years; the property was sold to Midlands Health Board in 1971.

thumb|Castlepollard's 19th century Market House was rebuilt in 1926

In the early nineteenth century, the main village and the Pollard family properties underwent a reconstruction program. The Kinturk Demesne residence and the adjacent buildings were rebuilt in the Georgian style of the period. Some common lands were enclosed. A new Church of Ireland building was erected in the square, along with the Market House Located on the west side of the green, this was the village's major public building and landmark. The quarterly Court of Petty Sessions convened here.

During the War of Independence the Irish Republican Army (IRA) burned the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks located on the Mullingar Road. The RIC then moved to the courthouse. In 1921, the IRA began a wave of burnings which targeted government offices throughout Ireland. This was a concerted effort to cripple the UK civil service in its day-to-day administration of the country. The Market House was also torched. Two sitting magistrates were kidnapped by the IRA on their way to the court. The men were held hostage locally, reportedly in a cow byre on the Hill of Moal. They were later released unharmed after forty eight hours, and the village was spared reprisals. The Market House was rebuilt in 1926 and served for periods as a fire station and a library.

Later additions to the built environment include multiple housing estates, the Area Office of the Westmeath County Council, and the Castlepollard Community College's new school building (2004), both on the Mullingar Road. In the 20 years between the 2002 and 2022 census, Castlepollard's population increased by more than 50%, from 895 to 1,349 inhabitants. The 2022 census indicated that approximately 30% of homes (158 of 526 households) were built between 2001 and 2010. this is no longer the case. As of November 2024, route 111a (Cavan to Delvin via Granard) had a stop at Castlepollard. Route 447 also provides a link to Mullingar via Crookedwood on Thursdays only.

The nearest rail service is at Mullingar railway station, approximately 22 km distant.

Economy

Mergon International, a manufacturer of moulded parts, is one of the main businesses in the area. Castlepollard has number of retail outlets which serve a hinterland in the northern part of County Westmeath. This includes filling stations, one bank, a post office, council buildings, primary and secondary schools, a number of grocery/newsagent shops, hairdressers, beauty salons, drapery stores, furniture stores, pharmacies and a hardware store. Castlepollard also has number of pubs.

Sport

Hurling is the major sport in the area. The local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club, Castlepollard Hurling Club, has won the Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship on 14 occasions. The club's "arch-rivals", Lough Lene Gaels GAA, are based in neighbouring Collinstown.

Other local GAA clubs include Ballycomoyle ( away), who play in the Junior Gaelic football championship, and Castletown Finea Coole Whitehall (CFCW) ( away) plays in the Intermediate championship.

Castlepollard Celtic Football Club, an association football (soccer) club founded in 2004, fields teams ranging from Under 7s to Under 16s for boys and girls. In 2013, the club fielded a senior team in the Combined Counties Football League.

Tullynally Castle

thumb|Front entrance of Tullynally Castle, Castlepollard.

Two kilometres west of Castlepollard on the Granard Road (Pakenham Hall Street) is Tullynally Castle, seat of the Pakenham family, later the Earls of Longford. Also known as Pakenham Hall, the original 17th-century fortified house (c. 1655) was remodelled first as a Georgian mansion in the 1730s, then as a large Gothic Revival castle. The castle was worked on by several well-known architects in the early-to-mid nineteenth-century, including Francis Johnston, James Shiel and Sir Richard Morrison. It is currently in use as private residence.

The gardens, like the castle, are on a large scale, covering nearly . Terraced lawns around the castle overlook 18th century parkland. The adjoining woodland gardens and walled gardens date largely from the early 19th century and encompass a grotto of eroded limestone from nearby Lough Derravaragh and two ornamental lakes. The walled gardens have flower borders and an avenue of 200-year-old Irish yews. The gardens are open to the public in the spring and summer.

See also

  • List of towns and villages in Ireland
  • Market Houses in Ireland
  • Mullaghmeen, highest point in Westmeath

References

  • Castlepollard Local Development Group website
  • Castlepollard Hurling Club website