placenames1901 census
10People recorded
1Households recorded
Most frequent surnames in this year’s matched records
- Curran 10
Ballagh
An Bealach
Ballagh’s surviving earthwork and a later archaeological watching brief preserve different kinds of evidence from Mullingar’s northeastern edge.
Recorded locationBallagh53.53812° N · 7.31219° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie
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
- An Bealach · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Ballagh · English · main form
Place & story
The western half of a ringfort
The archaeological record places Ballagh’s ringfort at the southeastern end of a low ridge. Only its western half survives above ground. A 1970 description measured the remaining area at about twenty-eight metres across and recorded a low earthen bank. A later field boundary cuts through the monument, while cultivation ridges mark its interior. The original entrance could not be identified, and no surrounding ditch was visible. These observations describe an altered earthwork rather than a complete enclosure. [2]
What monitoring did and did not reveal
Christopher Read’s account of monitoring in 2002 concerns a mixed development in Ballagh and neighbouring Petitswood. It notes several monuments nearby, including Ballagh’s ringfort, but reports no archaeological features or finds in the work examined by that stage. This limited result concerns the monitored development; it does not contradict the separate survey evidence for the surviving ringfort. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Townland
- County
- Westmeath
- Civil parish
- Mullingar
- Within
- Mullingar Rural
- Coordinates
- 53.53812, -7.31219
- Mapped area
- 0.73 km²
- Logainm ID
- 51896 ↗
People & family history
Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.
1911 census
No verified place match is available for this year. This does not indicate a population of zero.
1926 census
1People recorded
1Households recorded
Most frequent surnames in this year’s matched records
- Merleghan 1
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ballagh. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballagh ringfort, WM019-059----, compiled record uploaded 4 June 2019 · Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien, Archaeological Survey of Ireland
- Mullingar: Ballagh/Petitswood, original monitoring account 2002:1887, licence 02E0276 · Christopher Read, North West Archaeological Services Ltd., Excavations 2002
- Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2017-12-01. How this page was prepared.