placenamesDrumcree
Droim Cria
Drumcree’s nineteenth-century service role and surviving church and country-house fabric distinguish this Westmeath village.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Droim Cria · Irish · main form · validated name
- Drumcree · English · main form
Place & story
A post-town in 1837
Samuel Lewis recorded Drumcree as a small post-town on the Castlepollard–Athboy road in 1837, with thirty-seven houses and 197 inhabitants. Its church, parochial schoolhouse and dispensary made it a service centre for the surrounding countryside. A manorial court met twice yearly under Robert Smyth's seneschal. The entry supplies a compact picture of the village's educational, medical and administrative functions before later changes to its buildings. [2]
The Smyth family’s country house
Drumcree House was built around 1750 for a branch of the Smyth family. Its Palladian design includes a central pediment, rusticated corner stones and a Venetian window above the entrance. The national architectural survey records a roofless ruin with substantial carved stonework surviving. A service tunnel and outbuildings form part of the former estate complex. The survey identifies the house as occupying the site of an earlier castle. [3]
Saint John’s square tower
Saint John's Church at Loughstown was rebuilt around 1811. Its three-stage entrance tower has battlements and corner pinnacles, while pointed windows give the hall a Gothic character. The architectural survey records its later conversion to a private dwelling. That change preserved the outline of a village landmark while ending its original function; the building should consequently be understood as a former church rather than a public place of worship. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Drumcree. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Drumcree, Westmeath: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 · Samuel Lewis; Library Ireland
- Drumcree House: NIAH 15305006 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Saint John’s Church, Kilcumny: NIAH 15305012 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.