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NEWTOWNFORBES

CO. LONGFORD · IE

Newtownforbes
An Lios Breac

STOP 05 / 05

An Lios Breac · Co. Longford

An estate village on the N4, built by the Earls of Granard when they renamed Lisbrack. Castle Forbes sits beyond the gates.

Newtownforbes is a small village in the parish of Clonguish, six kilometres northwest of Longford town on the N4 national road. The population is around 850. It takes its name from the Forbes family—Earls of Granard—who were granted lands here in 1621 and renamed the village from Lisbrack around 1750. This is an estate village, the kind built by a landowning family to serve a demesne and its working people.

Castle Forbes sits adjacent, a gothic-revival house built in 1826 for the 6th Earl of Granard, George Forbes, replacing a 17th-century mansion lost to fire in 1825. The castle and its demesne remain private—they are not open to the public—but the grounds are substantial and the building is one of the most important architectural features of County Longford. The family still lives there.

The village itself is modest. There are pubs, shops, and a local GAA club—Clonguish GAA, founded in 1889—that plays at Bertie Allen Park and sits at the heart of the townland. The Bus Éireann Sligo–Dublin route stops here, about five services each way. The N4 passes down Main Street. This is not a place to visit for the castle—you cannot—but for what an estate village looked like when it worked: a planned grid of streets, a demesne at one end, and people living ordinary lives in ordinary houses.

Population

851

Pubs

2and counting

Walk score

Main Street in 20 minutes

Founded

Renamed 1750 by Forbes family

Coords

53.6833° N, 7.7000° W

01 / 05

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Casey's Public House

Local, working

Pub

One of two pubs in the village. A working local doing what estate-village pubs have always done.

02 / 05

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
A house in the village	Self-catering or B&B	Newtownforbes is close enough to Longford town that many stay there instead. But there is accommodation locally if you want to stay in the smaller place.

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Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

From Aberdeen to Longford

The Forbes family

Sir Arthur Forbes was a Scottish landowner granted 1,268 acres in Counties Leitrim and Longford by King James I in 1620, becoming a naturalized Irishman in 1622. In 1684, he was created 1st Earl of Granard. The family remained resident at Castle Forbes from 1691 onwards. The village was originally called Lisbrack — an anglicisation of the Irish 'Lios Breac', meaning the speckled ringfort — and was renamed Newtownforbes around 1750 as the estate developed. The current Earl of Granard is the 10th holder of the title.

A gothic-revival house on a demesne

Castle Forbes

The castle that stands today was built in 1826 for George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard, replacing a 17th-century mansion that survived a siege in 1641 but was lost to fire in 1825. The London architect William Foster remodelled it again in 1923–25 following fire damage under Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl. It is a substantial gothic-revival building with one of the largest demesnes in County Longford. It remains private — the family seat of the Earl of Granard — and is not open to visitors.

Founded 1889

Clonguish GAA

The local Gaelic Athletic Association club, Clonguish GAA, was founded in 1889 and plays its matches at Bertie Allen Park in the village. The club sits at the social centre of the townland and the parish of Clonguish — its Irish name, Cluain geis, means The Meadow of the Swans.

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When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar–May

A small place wakes up. The estate grounds around Castle Forbes are at their best. The roads are clear and the N4 is passable.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun–Aug

The N4 is busier. Newtownforbes is a pass-through place more than a destination, and summer makes that clear. Good if you want to be quiet.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep–Oct

The season when a working village works best. The GAA season is full swing. The weather is honest.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov–Feb

Cold and quiet. The village is not built for tourism. If you come here it is for the estate history and the architecture, not for warmth.

◐ Mind yourself

Getting there.

By car

Longford town to Newtownforbes is 6 km (10 minutes) north on the N4. Dublin to Newtownforbes is 2 hours via the N4. Sligo is 1 hour 45 minutes.

By bus

Bus Éireann Sligo–Dublin route stops in Newtownforbes with approximately five services each way daily.

By train

No train station in Newtownforbes. Nearest is Longford town (10 minutes by car) or Athlone (1 hour by car). From Dublin on Irish Rail to either station, then taxi or bus.

By air

Dublin Airport is 2 hours by car. Shannon is 2 hours. Ireland West (Knock) is 1.5 hours. Newtownforbes is not a fly-in destination.