Delvin () is a village in

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

; it is located on the N52 road at a junction with the N51 to

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

. The town is from

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

(along the N52). The word Delvin comes from

Delbhna The Delbna or Delbhna were a Gaelic Irish tribe in Ireland, claiming kinship with the Dál gCais, through descent from Dealbhna son of Cas. Originally one large population, they had a number of branches in Connacht, Meath, and Munster in Ireland. ...

. That tribe settled in what is present-day Delvin, along with a branch of the

Soghain The Soghain were a people of ancient Ireland. The 17th-century scholar Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh identified them as part of a larger group called the Cruithin. Mac Fhirbhisigh stated that the Cruithin included "the Dál Araidhi ál nAraidi ...

, in '' Tricha céd na Delbna Móire agus na Sogan''.

Delvin Castle and Clonyn Castle

Delvin Castle (or Nugent Castle), now a ruin, was built in 1181 by

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy (; before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in ...

for his brother-in-law, Gilbert de Nugent. De Nugent came to Ireland with de Lacy in 1171 and settled on some land in Delvin. De Nugent was granted the title Baron of Delvin within the

Lordship of Meath The Lordship of Meath was an extensive seigneurial liberty in medieval Ireland that was awarded to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England by the service of fifty knights and with almost royal authority. The Lordship was roughly co-extensive wit ...

, a title now held by the

Earl of Westmeath Earl of Westmeath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1621 for Richard Nugent, Baron Delvin. During the Tudor era the loyalty of the Nugent family was often in question, and Richard's father, the sixth Baron, died in prison ...

. The ruins of Nugent Castle (not publicly accessible) remain near the centre of the town. A second castle was built several centuries later, hundreds of metres from the centre of the Delvin settlement of that time. This building, known as

Clonyn Castle Clonyn Castle also known as Delvin Castle, is a Victorian country house situated in Delvin, County Westmeath, Ireland some 18 km from Mullingar along the N52. It is a square, symmetrical, two-storey castle-like building of cut limestone ...

, is situated south of Delvin between the N52 and the Collinstown road. Built in the mid-19th century, by Lord and Lady Greville Nugent, it was sold by the Nugent family in 1922. Changing hands several times during the 20th century, it is now a private residence.

Amenities

The 18-hole Delvin Castle Golf Club is located near the town. Between the 2002 and 2016 census, the population of the town more than doubled from 270 to 740 people. In addition to other developments, plans were unveiled for the provision of a new sports and leisure facility within the village To date, a walking track, floodlit football pitch and basic changing facilities have been provided on site.

Education

National (primary) schools in the area include St. Patrick's (Crowenstown), St. Tola's (Hiskinstown), and St. Ernan's National Schools.

People

Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet Sir Thomas Robert Tighe Chapman, 7th Baronet (6 November 1846 – 8 April 1919) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish landowner, the last of the Chapman baronets of Killua Castle in County Westmeath, Ireland. For many years he lived under th ...

, landowner and father of

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

, was brought up at a large manor house near Delvin *

Laurence Ginnell Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...

, nationalist politician, was also from Delvin *

Brinsley MacNamara John Weldon (6 September 1890 – 4 February 1963; alternatively "A. E. Weldon"), known by his pen- and stage-name Brinsley MacNamara, was an Irish writer, playwright, and the registrar of the National Gallery of Ireland. He is the author of s ...

, writer and Delvin native, set the 1918 novel '' Valley of the Squinting Windows'' in Delvin (under the fictitious name of "Garradrimna") * Mary McEvoy, actress who played Biddy Byrne in ''

Glenroe ''Glenroe'' is an Irish television soap opera broadcast on RTÉ One for 18 years between September 1983 and May 2001. ''Glenroe was'' centred on the lives of the people living in the fictional rural village of the same name in County Wicklow. ...

'' is from Delvin

References

External links

Delvin Village website

Delvin Parish
{{County Westmeath Towns and villages in County Westmeath