Westmeath Field Name Project Update

 

An update on the Westmeath Field Names Recording Project and some of the interesting names recorded is available at link .

The project began in the summer of 2018 with two community groups, Taghmon Women’s Group and Drumraney Heritage Society. Over 700 field names were collected in that first year, some of which have been discussed in our first project booklet (available on line: http://aengusfinnegan.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ Westmeath-Field-Names-Recording-Project-Booklet.pdf). Since 2019 we have worked with a further eleven groups, from all over the county: Fore, Collinstown, Kinnegad, Mount Temple, Rochfortbridge, Rosemount, Ballymore, Loughnavalley, Multyfarnham, Tang, and Coole. 20 meetings with community groups were held in 2019 and a further fourteen have taken place to date in 2020. In total, over 100 volunteers have been involved in the project in 2019-20, and 1400 field names have been collected from 70 townlands. Additionally, a further 80 field names have been transcribed from historic estate maps (18th-19th centuries), the Registry of Deeds, local newspapers and other sources. Unfortunately, all group meetings had to cease in March 2020 due to the Coronavirus Outbreak but collection of names from individuals in various parts of the county has resumed, as circumstances allow.