Bellewstown () is a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

and village located 8 km south of

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, on the Hill of Crockafotha in

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

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 ...

. Bellewstown townland, which is in the

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

of Ardcath and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Duleek, had a population of 499 as of the 2011 census. It takes its name from the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

Bellew family, who were the dominant local landowners from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century.

History

Built heritage

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of

cist In archeology, a cist (; also kist ; ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

ring ditch In archaeology, a ring ditch is a trench of circular or penannular plan, cut into bedrock. They are usually identified through aerial photography either as soil marks or cropmarks. When excavated, ring ditches are usually found to be the ploughed� ...

and

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

sites in the

s of Bellewstown, Collierstown and Hilltown. Bellewstown Castle, a 15th century building that is now in ruin, is historically associated with the Bellew family. Its ruins stand near Bellewstown House. Also within the grounds of Bellewstown House is a former church.

Horseracing

The tradition of summer horse racing at Bellewstown Racecourse dates to at least the 18th century, and the first record of racing here appears in the ''

Dublin Gazette ''The Dublin Gazette'' was the gazette, or official newspaper, of the Irish Executive, the British-controlled government in Ireland based at Dublin Castle, between 1705 and 1922. Like the ''London Gazette'' on which it was modelled, its straplin ...

'' and the ''Weekly Courier'' in August 1726. In 1780, George Tandy, a former mayor of

and brother of

James Napper Tandy James Napper Tandy (February 1739 – 24 August 1803), known as Napper Tandy, was an Irish revolutionary and a founder of the United Irishmen. He experienced exile, first in the United States and then in France, for his role in attempting to ad ...

, persuaded

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

to sponsor a race at Bellewstown. The race was called His Majesty's Plate and was valued at £100. There was also previously a cricket ground in the middle of the race track. Racing continues to occur on an annual basis, taking place during the course of the summer. While there was previously just one meeting a year at Bellewstown (in July), as of the 21st century, four meetings are held each year. These include one day in April, three days in July, three days in August and two days in September. The track is a one-mile and one-furlong left-handed course, featuring both flat and hurdle racing.

Amenities

Amenities in Bellewstown village include a primary school,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church, pub, horse racecourse, and golf course. The modern Catholic church in Bellewstown, Saint Thérèse's church in Collierstown townland, was built . It is in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. The local national (primary) school, also dedicated to

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

, had an enrollment of approximately 100 pupils as of 2024. The current school building, built in the 1960s, replaced an earlier 19th century building which is now known as the "old school hall". The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) club,

Duleek/Bellewstown GAA Duleek/Bellewstown is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Duleek, in County Meath, Ireland. The club, which also takes players from the Bellewstown area, plays football in Meath GAA competitions. Duleek won the Meath Senior Football Cha ...

, won the

Meath Intermediate Football Championship Meath Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association second-tier competition between Gaelic football clubs organised by Meath GAA. The winning club is promoted to the Meath Senior Football Championship. In the 2024 f ...

in 2005.

People

Gavin Duffy Gavin Duffy (born Liam Duffy; 29 April 1960) is an Irish entrepreneur and businessman who was a former part owner of the HRM Group of Companies, one of Ireland's largest recruitment companies. Duffy is a regular conference speaker at business e ...

, entrepreneur and businessman, lived in Bellewstown. * The family of actress

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born ) is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and '' Bad Sisters'' (2022 ...

and rugby-player

Shane Horgan Shane Patrick Horgan (born 18 July 1978) is an Irish former rugby union player who played wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland. Early life Horgan was born on 18 July 1978 in Bellewstown, County Meath, to an Irish mother, Ursula (''née'' C ...

previously lived in the area. * The 19th century Dublin-born poet

James Clarence Mangan James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan (; 1 May 1803 – 20 June 1849), was an Irish poetry, Irish poet. He freely translated works from German, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, and Irish, with his translations of Goethe gaining special interest. St ...

, who had several

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s, sometimes used the name "P.V. M'Guffin, Bellewstown".

References