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
Baile Chaisleán na nGeochagán· Irish · main form · validated name
Castletown Geoghegan· English · main form
Place & story
A prehistoric trackway beneath the village
Archaeological monitoring for sewerage works uncovered two burnt mounds and a wooden trackway preserved in peat. The trackway was radiocarbon-dated to 2860–2480 BC. The published excavation summary also records a substantial stone building foundation in the village centre and stone-revetted ditches elsewhere; those two sites were avoided by construction and preserved in place. These discoveries extend the locality's history well beyond its visible medieval monuments.[5]
A medieval earthwork in a village of roads
Roads from Kilbeggan, Kinnegad, Loughnavalley and Mullingar meet at Castletown Geoghegan. The 2018 community plan describes a settlement stretched along its road, with buildings grouped around crossroads and a Y-junction. Its prominent motte and bailey preserves evidence of medieval fortification within that later village pattern. The earthwork and old graveyard were identified by residents as central features of the locality's heritage.[2]
The old churchyard
The old churchyard contains medieval church remains and a mortuary chapel dated 1671. Among its later monuments are graves of the McGeoghegan family, including David McGeoghegan, who died in 1778. The architectural inventory records carved eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stones, some enclosed by early iron railings. These monuments preserve family connections and changes in memorial craftsmanship within a burial ground whose origins it dates to around 1400.[3]
Hurling and the black-and-amber colours
The hurling club's history traces informal games at Loughlum to 1911 and its first junior championship team to 1920. It associates the black-and-amber colours with Mick Byrne, a Kilkenny railway worker who helped develop the game locally. Emigration contributed to the club's disbandment in 1924. Reorganisation in 1930 restored a team that became a lasting part of Westmeath hurling.[4]
Castletown Geoghegan — Census 2016 settlement footprint
Population within 2016 settlement boundaries
160people · 2022
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.
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Castletown Geoghegan — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Castletown Geoghegan, Westmeath
Published census settlement populations
141people · 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.
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Castletown Geoghegan, Westmeath — census population
placenames