County Westmeath

County Westmeath (Contae na hIarmhí) is a situated in the, also popularly called the "Lake county" in the western part of the province of. Area: 1,764 km². The county was once part of the province of  and later of. This association ended in when County Westmeath was created under the Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act.

with a 18,529 is the county administrative centre, and has the largest urban population of the county. (population 16,888),, , and are also important commerce and marketing centres within the county.

Economy:
Westmeath has traditionally been an agricultural economy. Urban development centred on market centres like Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its critical military significance in the 1500s, as it was located where the main East-West route crossed the Shannon. Mullingar got considerable advantage from the development of the making possible bulk transport to Dublin, and the sea. Both Athlone and Mullingar developed further in significance with the construction of the Irish railway network.

After the famine the population of Westmeath dropped dramatically, and didn't recovered until the late 1950s. Agriculture has always been important in Westmeath and the county is renowned for its cattle production.

Tourism in Westmeath is centred on its water amenities. The county has lakes such as, , , and. Both the Grand Canal, and the Royal Canal go through Westmeath, and the Shannon (Ireland's key tourism waterway) has a considerable inland harbour in Athlone.

The development of industry in Westmeath was based on food processing and consumer products. Whiskey production in Kilbeggan, tobacco processing in Mullingar, and the meat trade were prominent. In reccent times, the  has located in Athlone. The district to the East of Mullingar is now part of the belt serving the technology parks on the western side of, proving popular with people who wish to work in Leixlip,.

Notable Westmeath people include the CEO of, , broadcaster , and , former ,  and , now  and.

Westmeath's main achievements in were winning the, or  Cup, in , and winning the  in  in.

According to the ,, Westmeath is the goat capital of Ireland, with five times as many s as.

Towns and villages in Westmeath
Westmeath is bordered by the counties of, , , and.

Westmeath Bovine Cattle


As the is to dairy produce, Mullingar Cattle are farmed for their high quality beef, veal, fattened upon the plains of Meath and Westmeath. Much of the countries weaned cattle, in particular, cattle from west of the, west of , arrive upon the Westmeath Meath grasslands, for final fattening before they are conditioned for human consumption. This is also true to a lesser extent for other neighbouring counties, Cavan and Offaly pastures. Such is the recognition of the beef quality produced in the area, popular sayings ring on from generation to generation, and one in particular: <> The saying coined, referred not the heifer beef quality, but to the attractive, well proportioned, and well shaped adolescent girls of a courting age. These cattle are also employed to maintain grassland for wildlife for example, within the surrounding areas fringing the. They are often used in some of the wildest places for livestock. Depending upon their breed, certain cattle are more suited to hill grazing, heaths, marshes, and moors. Today, consequential to specialisation certain tendencies have become more visible in Irish farm practices. Breeds of bovine cows have become more commercial than older breeds. Breeds for meet consumption are those most likely to encounter in this area. As there are exceptions to all rules, there are also dairy farms that possess s, who supply the dairy industry.

The Westmeath Horse
Westmeath possesses may stud farms. These animals are reared upon the pastures allowing the bone structure to grow and form correctly. The rich planes of Westmeath, rich in calcium, contribute significantly to calcification of the foals bones during the formation years. Westmeath mares are put into foal preferably in spring so that the foal may grow through the summer, pregnancy lasts for approximately 335-340 days and usually results in one foal (male: colt, female: filly). Twins are occur very rarely. are usually carried 2-7 days longer than fillies. Females 4 years and over are called and males are s. Note: A castrated male is a. Horses, particularly colts, may sometimes be physically capable of reproduction at approximately 18 months but in practice are rarely allowed to breed until a minimum age of 3 or 4 years old, especially females or. When these Westmeath horses are about four years old, they are considered mature, even though the skeleton usually continues to develop until the six years old, and the precise time of completion of development also depends on the horse's size (therefore a connection to breed exists), gender, and the quality of care provided by its owner. Also, if the horse is larger, its bones are larger; therefore, not only do the bones take longer to actually form bone tissue (bones are made of cartilage in earlier stages of bone formation), but the epiphyseal plates (two plates that fuse a bone into one piece by connecting the bone shaft to the bone extrimities) are also larger and take longer to convert from cartilage to bone. These plates convert after the other parts of the bones do but are crucial to development. Depending on maturity, breed and the tasks expected, young horses are usually put under saddle and trained to be ridden between the ages of two and four. Although and  three quarter bred horse, for horse jumping, and race horses are put on the track early as two years old, by some horses proprietors. These horses of the lake districts, (north of the county), are specifically bred for sports such as show jumping and dressage are generally not entered into top-level competition until a minimum age of four years old, because their bones and muscles are not solidly developed, nor is their advanced training complete. For endurance riding competition, certain horses may not compete until they are a full 60 calendar months (5 years) old.