Collinstown (Irish: Baile na gCailleach)[2] is a village in north County Westmeath, situated on the R395 regional road overlooking Lough Lene.

[1] The Irish name of the village means 'town of the veiled women', or 'town of the hags', owing to a convent once established on an island on nearby Lough Lene.

Collinstown also has historic links with several religious orders: as well as a convent being established on Nun's Island, Lough Lene, to the north is the monastic complex of Fore Abbey.

In 1881 an ancient bell was found by a boy fishing for eels on Castle Island in Lough Lene, part of the Barbavila estate owned by William Barlow Smythe.

The bell has a faint outline of the Christian Celtic cross upon opposing sides and has an ornamental peripheral border.

William Smyth, Dean of Dromore and Bishop of Kilmore purchased the Ranaghan estate, later known as Barbavilla in 1670 from the 4th Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion and others for £1,100.

A feature of these buildings is the roofing tile baked from local red colored clay, which was manufactured within the Barbavilla estate.

[citation needed] Bathing, sailing, wind-surfing, authorized fishing,[8] and jetty facilities are available at the Lough Lene access point named locally as "The Cut" [9] about 2 km north of the village.