Mullaghmeen Hill, in County Westmeath

County Westmeath

-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, is situated between the County Cavan

County Cavan

County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...

 border and the Coole

Coole, County Westmeath

Coole is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland, on the R395 regional road. It is situated on a plateau that overlooks the part of the Bog of Allen, cultivated for peat for fuel consumption purposes by Bórd na Móna, the government-owned peat production industry and for garden plant soil compost...

 end of the Bog of Allen

Bog of Allen

The Bog of Allen is a large raised bog in the centre of Ireland between the rivers Liffey and Shannon.The bog's 958 square kilometers stretch into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County Laois, and County Westmeath. Peat is mechanically harvested on a large scale by Bórd na Móna,...

, to the south. It dominates the valley and the 'Westmeath or the Lake County' surrounding countryside. It rises gracefully among surrounding hills that interlace with the many loughs of Westmeath.

Mullaghmeen Forest lies about 8 km from the town of Castlepollard

Castlepollard

Castlepollard is a large village in north County Westmeath, Ireland. Located in the barony of Demifore, in the civil parish of Rathgarve, it lies west of Lough Lene and northeast of Lough Derravaragh and Mullingar.-Name:...

. The soil is very rich in limestone and in 1936 the Department of Agriculture decided that it would be ideally suited to the planting of deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 trees. The Department set about planting mainly beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 trees, resulting in what is now the largest beech plantation in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

The 258-metre Mullaghmeen summit is the highest point in County Westmeath

County Westmeath

-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

. It is the lowest county top, and is the 1,000th highest summit in Ireland.