Rochfortbridge
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Rochfortbridge Droichead Chaisleán Loiste
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| Town | |
 Rochfortbridge
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| Coordinates: 53°24′58″N 7°17′46″W / 53.416°N 7.296°WCoordinates: 53°24′58″N 7°17′46″W / 53.416°N 7.296°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Westmeath |
| Government | |
| • Dáil Éireann | Longford–Westmeath |
| • EU Parliament | North–West |
| Elevation | 32 m (105 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 1,494 |
| • Rural | 200 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Area code(s) | +353-44-92 |
| Irish Grid Reference | N462407 |
Rochfortbridge (Irish: Droichead Chaisleán Loiste, meaning "Castle Lost Bridge") is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland.
The village is located at the intersection of the R400 and the R446 (formerly the N6) roads. Population at the 2011 census was 1,494.
Rochfortbridge is located in Castlelost parish, which was inhabited at least as early as 590 AD by monks under Mo Chutu (later St. Carthage). The village was originally known as Beggar's Bridge, supposedly after a beggar who died at a river crossing; enough money was found in his pockets to build a bridge.
The village proper was set out c. 1700 by Robert Rochfort, MP for Westmeath from 1651 to 1727. As part of the village building programme, Rochfort financed and built a new bridge over the River Derry, giving the village its new name. Following the death of Rochfort in 1727, the village was controlled by his son George Rochfort. George died just three years later, in 1730, and the village was then under the control of his son Robert Rochfort (soon to become 1st Earl of Belvedere). On the death of the 1st Earl, the village passed to his son and heir George Augustus Rochfort, the 2nd Earl of Belvedere.
In 1797 Lt. Col. Robert Rochfort, son of the 1st Earl and brother of the 2nd Earl, died; his estate passed to the Cooper family. The other great Rochfort estate at Gaulstown passed to Lord Kilmaine. In 1847 Josias Cooper and Lord Kilmaine rebuilt the village as part of a famine relief programme. Almost all of the original village dwellings were demolished during this rebuilding effort; the only remaining Rochefort-era building is the former Church of Ireland.
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