Kilbeggan () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland.
Geography
Kilbeggan is situated on the River Brosna, in the south of County Westmeath. It lies south of Lough Ennell, and Castletown Geoghegan, north of the boundary with County Offaly, 10 kilometres north of Tullamore. Kilbeggan is surrounded by the gently rolling Esker Riada, the linear sand hills that stretch across the Irish midlands, which were left by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age. It is famous as the location of the oldest recorded incidence of a tornado in Europe.
Kilbeggan comprises 29 townlands: Aghamore, Aghuldred, Ardnaglew, Ballinderry Big, Ballinderry Little, Ballinwire, Ballymacmorris, Ballynasudder, Ballyoban, Brownscurragh, Camagh, Clonaglin, Coola, Demesne or Mearsparkfarm, Grange and Kiltober, Grangegibbon, Greenan, Guigginstown, Hallsfarm, Kilbeggan, Kilbeggan North, Kilbeggan South, Kiltober / Kiltubber and Grange, Loughanagore, Meadowpark, Meeldrum, Meeniska, Meersparkfarm or Demesne, Shureen and Ballynasuddery, Skeahanagh, Stonehousefarmand Tonaphort.
The neighbouring civil parishes are: Castletown Kindalen to the north, Newtown to the east, Rahugh to the east and south, Durrow to the south and Ardnurcher or Horseleap to the west.
Transport
The N6 - the main route between Dublin and Galway - originally passed through Kilbeggan, meeting the N52 in the town centre. Both the N6 and N52 have been re-routed to bypass the town to the south, with the road through the centre now reclassified as the R446 regional road.
Kilbeggan being situated on the main Dublin-Galway route means it has public transport options to these main cities. A townlink service also connects the main surrounding towns such as Mullingar and Tullamore. It is the first Westmeath town that Kearns transport stops in en route to Dublin.
History
thumb|Ruined church at Newtownlow
St Bécán, one of the 'Twelve Apostles of Ireland', founded a monastery here in the 6th century, giving rise to the town's Irish name , meaning "the church of St Bécán". The church is no longer in use. The tower survives, in a ruinous state.
A ford crossing the River Brosna at Kilbeggan was the site, in 972, of a battle between the Danes and the Irish.
The Lambart family came to be politically dominant in the midlands. They firmly established themselves in and around Kilbeggan, gradually
replacing the Geoghegan Family who were the leaders of Moycashel and the formidable Irish of (West) Meath Alliance who kept the English of (East) Meath in check from the Norman Invasion through the War of the Three Kingdoms, during which they sat as members for the two county Westmeath boroughs,
and after The Restoration were restored to some land up to the ultimate defeat of the Irish by William and Mary's forces and allies and the Treaty of Limerick.
Sir Oliver Lambart was made Governor of Connaught in 1601 upon the completion of the Tudor Conquest and the last great battle for a Gaelic Ireland at Kinsale, where Bryan Geoghegan and his small band was the great holdout at Dunboy. At payback time Lambart was charged with curbing the intransigent Geoghegans and their allies and was subsequently granted plan for a model Tudor of land and 60 houses. Lambart inaugurated a weekly market in the town in 1606. Kilbeggan became a borough town by charter of James I in 1612.
Kilbeggan is home to Mercy Secondary School, which stands on the Dublin Road. It is linked to the Mercy Convent, situated in the town.
Durrow Abbey is located around 4 kilometres south of the town, just across the county boundary with Offaly.
Kilbeggan is home to a significant Brazilian diaspora community, and possesses a shop offering ethnic Brazilian goods and money transfer services.
Events
The 'Kilbeggan Knighthood Festival' takes place during the first weekend in June and commemorates the knighting of Thomas Cuffe, a local innkeeper that was knighted by Lord Townshend after a night of drinking in 1772. During this weekend, various activities take place such as parades, a market in the square and reenactment events.
People
- Kate O'Connell, former Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay South, was born in Kilbeggan
- Kitty Flynn, historian and author.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- Market Houses in Ireland