A Guide to Tracing your Westmeath Ancestors (1)

Westmeath, often referred to as the ‘Lake County’, is a prosperous midland county whose main towns are Athlone and Mullingar. The major Gaelic families in the county include O’Flanagan, MacAuley, MacGeoghegan, Brennan, O’Coffey, O’Mulleady, O’FInlan, O’Growney, O’Melaghlin and O’Daly. Later Norman arrivals included DeLacy, Plunkett, Nugent, Tuite, Petit, Delamar, and Dalton, and later still English adventurer families to arrive included Ledwich, Dardis and Gaynor. The lives and activities of these various peoples of Westmeath have generated a huge variety of records, many of which can be useful to the family historian. This book explains what records exist and how to use them to best advantage.