p-Catalan numbers and squarefree binomial coefficients

In this paper, we consider the generalized Catalan numbers , which we call s-Catalan numbers. For p prime, we find all positive integers n such that p^q divides F(p^q,n), and also determine all distinct residues of , q?1. As a byproduct we settle a question of Hough and the late Simion on the divisibility of the 4-Catalan numbers by 4. In the second part of the paper we prove that if pq?99999, then is not squarefree for n?τ₁(p^q) sufficiently large (τ₁(p^q) computable). Moreover, using the results of the first part, we find n<τ₁(p^q) (in base p), for which may be squarefree. As consequences, we obtain that is squarefree only for n=1,3,45, and is squarefree only for n=1,4,10.