Newtown Forbes preserves the architectural influence of Castle Forbes alongside records that can illuminate the lives of people who worked on the estate.
Illustration, Main Street, Newtown Forbes
⊕Recorded locationNewtown Forbes53.76559° N · 7.83558° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
An Lios Breac· Irish · main form · validated name
Newtown Forbes· English · main form
Newtownforbes· English · main form
Place & story
Castle Forbes and the lakeside demesne
The historical placename description preserved by Longford Library locates Castle Forbes immediately west of Newtown Forbes, with Lough Forbes forming its western boundary. It describes gardens, woodland, walks and ornamental ground around the principal residence, together with areas of bog. A ruined church stood farther west. The account captures an estate landscape in which managed pleasure grounds and less cultivated land coexisted. Its acreage and description belong to the historical survey; they are not a measurement of the modern village or a statement about current public access.[2]
The crow-stepped gables of Saint Paul’s
Saint Paul's Church was built or substantially rebuilt around 1829, to designs associated with John Hargrave. Although an earlier church is recorded here in 1694, the architectural inventory cautions that little surviving fabric securely demonstrates that date. The cruciform plan, crow-stepped gables and timber fittings give the building a distinctive character. The inventory suggests that the gables may echo the Scottish background of the Forbes family. Inside, box pews and family memorials connect the church with its patrons, while an old pathway formerly linked it with Castle Forbes.[3]
Looking beyond the great house
Longford Archives holds Castleforbes workmen's accounts covering 1873–82 and 1890–93 among its small private collections. These are a useful additional lead for researching employment around Newtown Forbes before the surviving twentieth-century census returns. Their existence also shifts attention from the owners of the estate towards the people who maintained and worked it. The catalogue identifies the records and their date ranges, rather than providing a complete list of workers online. A particular person's employment should therefore be checked in the original accounts before being added to a family history.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Newtownforbes — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
668people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
470people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: census town
393people · 1986
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Newtownforbes, Longford — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Newtownforbes, Longford
Published census settlement populations
778people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
placenames
