Ankers Bower (also Anker's Bower, Ankers' Bower, Ankersbower, or Anchor's Bower) is a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

and hill in St. Mary's

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Brawny,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

, Ireland. It is partly within the former

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

. The name may derive from John Ankers, who was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of St. Mary's in 1608.

Population and area

The townland of Ankersbower, which has an area of , was uninhabited in 1841 and 1851, and had a population of 60 in 1861. The decennial censuses of Ireland from 1841 to 1911 included demographic data broken down by townland, except that from 1871 the area under the jurisdiction of

town commissioners Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with ...

was combined into a single figure, with any rural portion of a townland listed separately. The rural portion of Ankersbower in 1871–1911 was uninhabited; its area was in 1891 and in 1911. A 2003

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

, the Athlone Town Boundary Alteration Order, 2003, included more of the townland within the Athlone town boundary; the

Local Government Reform Act 2014 The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, ...

abolished Athlone town council. Sitting largely within the town of

in the Athlone East Urban electoral division, the townland had a population of 341 as of the 2011 census.

References

{{reflist Townlands of County Westmeath Mountains and hills of County Westmeath Athlone