16th and 17th centuries Nicholas Pollard, an English Army captain from
Devonshire, arrived in Ireland in 1597 during the
Nine Years' War. He fought under the Earl of Essex's command against the
Gaelic Irish forces. After that campaign, Captain Pollard was settled on land in the Mayne area. Cionn Torc (Kinturk), a valley between the lakes, was granted 'in capite' by the ageing Queen Elizabeth I to Captain Pollard. He built a small castle at Rathyoung which he called Castle Pollard. Walter Pollard, first son of Nicholas, married Ismay Nugent of Roscommon. He received a regrant of the demesne during the restoration period, following the Civil War and Cromwellian confiscations. The grant was made by charter from King Charles II, and approved by the Irish Parliament. In addition, he was granted a permit for a weekly market and a fair which was held four times annually. The Pollard family was reconfirmed in the manorial title by the edict of William and Mary. Serving as Commissioner for Supplies during the War of the Three Kingdoms, Pollard sat in the Irish Parliament, and became
High Sheriff of the county in 1692. The family gradually improved the residence and the estate. They rebuilt the adjoining out buildings and developed the village of Castlepollard. They intermarried with the Dillon family of Ladyhill, the Pakenhams, the Duttons, the Tuites, and other landed county families. The descendants of Nicholas Pollard lived at Kinturk into the early twentieth century.
Castlepollard Massacre, 1831 On 23 May 1831 members of the paramilitary
Royal Irish Constabulary force (which Britain established to police Ireland) arrested a man following a fight at Castlepollard's fair. The crowd surrounded them until they released the man. At approximately 5pm that day, members of the same force returned, this time armed with muskets. is preserved and now landscaped in a central triangular green. Surrounded by buildings from the Georgian period, a sculpture on the square depicts a scene from the locally centred legend of the
Children of Lir. A plaque outlines the story in several languages. The setting of the legend is
Lough Derravaragh. There are several
ringforts on the surrounding high ground. Two ancient forts are of archaeological interest.
Randoon is located in nearby Ranaghan, south west of
Lough Lene, and
Turgesius Island, is situated on Lough Lene. Turgesius was a Viking leader who sojourned here with a local lover while on respite from his seafaring. He held sway in Danish Dublin (Dyflin) and Shannon Viking port near Clonmacnoise. Two churches serve the local Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland Christian communities. Kinturk House, the Georgian period Pollard residence, now serves as St. Peter's Centre. It was purchased by the Sacred Heart Sisters from the family in 1935, who added a chapel wing. A hospital designed by T.J. Cullen (1879–1947) was built c. 1935 and was part of "an extensive hospital construction programme initiated during the first decades of the Irish Free State" financed by the
Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake. The sisters operated a
Mother and Baby home there for many years; the property was sold to Midlands Health Board in 1971. In the early nineteenth century, the main village and the Pollard family properties underwent a reconstruction program. The Kinturk Demesne residence and the adjacent buildings were rebuilt in the Georgian style of the period. Some common lands were enclosed. A new Church of Ireland building was erected in the square, along with the
Market House Located on the west side of the green, this was the village's major public building and landmark. The quarterly Court of Petty Sessions convened here. During the War of Independence the
Irish Republican Army (IRA) burned the
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks located on the Mullingar Road. The RIC then moved to the courthouse. In 1921, the IRA began a wave of burnings which targeted government offices throughout Ireland. This was a concerted effort to cripple the UK civil service in its day-to-day administration of the country. The Market House was also torched. Two sitting
magistrates were kidnapped by the IRA on their way to the court. The men were held hostage locally, reportedly in a cow byre on the Hill of Moal. They were later released unharmed after forty eight hours, and the village was spared reprisals. The Market House was rebuilt in 1926 and served for periods as a fire station and a library. Later additions to the built environment include multiple housing estates, the Area Office of the Westmeath County Council, and the Castlepollard Community College's new school building (2004), both on the Mullingar Road. In the 20 years between the 2002 and 2022 census, Castlepollard's population increased by more than 50%, from 895 to 1,349 inhabitants. The 2022 census indicated that approximately 30% of homes (158 of 526 households) were built between 2001 and 2010. ==Transport==