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
Droichead Chaisleán Loiste· Irish · main form · validated name
Rochfortbridge· English · main form
Place & story
Folklore & tradition
The beggar and the bridge
Samuel Lewis recorded the village's former name, Beggar's Bridge, in 1837. Local tradition explained it through a beggar who died there: money found in his pockets supposedly paid for a bridge across the small stream at the eastern end of the village. Lewis described Rochfortbridge as a modest post-town on the Dublin–Athlone road, with 27 houses, a parish church, a police station and a national school.[2]
People & connections
Charlotte Kelly's classroom
St Joseph's Institute opened on 24 November 1892 to educate deaf Catholic girls. Bishop Thomas Nulty asked Mother Stanislaus O'Neill to undertake the project, and the Mercy community adapted its former convent. Its first teacher, Charlotte Kelly, was herself deaf. She had previously worked as governess to Richard Coffey's deaf son. The institute initially shared space with the convent primary school; when that school moved in 1896, more rooms became available for teaching and boarding.[3]
Learning and performance
The congregation's archives preserve an unusually vivid record of the pupils' activities. In 1899 they performed The Babes in the Wood in signs at a public concert, alongside several dances. Lessons also included practical textile work, with lace, stockings and garments made for sale. Enrolments remained small, and declining numbers and income eventually brought closure in 1940. The building continued in education, becoming a secondary top in 1948 and a recognised secondary school in 1954.[3]
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
Rochfortbridge — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
1,473people · 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
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
724people · 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
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: census town
792people · 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
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Rochfortbridge, Westmeath
Published census settlement populations
1,473people · 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
