Longford Ireland

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Accommodation. Tags: Annaly Hotel, Clondra, County Longford, Longford, Longford Arms Hotel, Longford Town, Main Street, Richmond Inn Guesthouse. Comments: 1

Land Area: 1,091 km

County Town: Longford

Code: LD

Population: 31,068 (2002)

Province: Leinster

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under County Facts. Tags: Land Area, Leinster, Longford, Population. Comments: None

County Longford is the third smallest county in Ireland. The true beauty of Longford lies in its quiet countryside of farmlands, bog, the occasional low hill and its pleasant views. The visitor is never far from water The River Shannon, Lough Ree, the River Inny and Lough Gowna where the angler can enjoy the finest fishing. The hot water stretch at Lanesboro is famous. Every canoeist knows the White water stretch at Ballymahon. If you’re a fan of Irish music, there are a number of great old pubs where one can wine, dine and listen to the locals.

Edward J Valentine is a popular pub, or more correctly, it’s divided into two, for alongside it is the ‘The Spiral Tree Bar‘. Both establishments offer different experiences. Edward J’s has a turn-of-the-century style, while the other bar is more contemporary in design. However, the two blend in well, old-style and new, and both have a warm welcoming atmosphere. The pleasant and friendly folk who these days descend on the pub, along with a pint of Guinness make it one of the most popular pubs in the area. A Carvery lunch is served daily or you may choose from the bar menu which is served throughout the day. Once you’re in the door, you’ll find it hard to go, for after an hour you’ll feel a part of it and it’s a part of you. Patrick V Fallon’s, is an award winning pub; located in the heart of Longford ( Hotels, Longford, Ireland) town. There is a renowned welcome to this fine, smart and friendly pub. This is a well run family pub that serves excellent fresh food, which is prepared from local produce. Patrick V Fallon’s ensures the most memorable evening as possible with its warm ambience and delightful service.

The pubs of Longford (Accommodation, Longford, Ireland) are not simply places in which to satisfy your thirst. They are theatres for storytelling, backdrops for romance, homes away from home and keepers of the spirit of the city, in more ways than one.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Entertainment. Tags: Ballymahon, County Longford, Edward J Valentine, Guinness, Ireland, Lanesboro, Longford, Lough Gowna, Lough Ree, Patrick V Fallon, pubs, River Inny, River Shannon, The Spiral Tree Bar, White water. Comments: 1

Longford is in the Irish Midlands. It lies in the basin of the River Shannon, and the upper part of the County is in the catchment area of the River Erne, having Lough Gowna on its border with neighbouring County Cavan. County Longford ( Self Catering, Longford, Ireland) s a comparatively small county. The County was created in 1564, and took its name from the principal town, properly known as Longfort U�Fearghail, “O’Farrell’s landing place”. Known in earlier times as Annaly, the association of the area with the O’Farrells goes back to the ninth century. Despite the grant of the territory to the de Lacys in the twelfth century, the O’Farrells ruled until the beginning of the seventeenth century, when some plantation of English settlers took place.

Today, O’Farrell or Farrell is still the most dominant surname in the County. Other common surnames are, Quinn, Kenny, Kiernan, Mulvey, Smith, Leavy, Kelly, Glennon, Keenan, Casey and Murphy.

Longford (Accommodation, Longford, Ireland) lost almost one-third of its people to starvation and emigration between 1841 and 1851, the years of the Great Famine. And the loss continued in subsequent emigration: by 1986 the population was only a quarter of what it had been in 1841.

Longford Research Centre, Longford Roots, 1 Church Street, Longford, Co Longford, Ireland

Longford Roots undertakes research into the histories of families who were resident in County Longford before 1900. The Longford Heritage Company operates the Centre with the assistance of FAS. Since 1990 there have been trainees employed every year to index the parish records. FAS have a big input in Longfords Genealogy, and without their assistance we would have no Genealogy Centre in Longford.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Genealogy. Tags: 1 Church Street, Co. Longford, County Cavan, County Longford, English, FAS, Great Famine, Ireland, Longford, Longford Research Centre, Longford Roots, Lough Gowna, O'Farrell's, River Erne, River Shannon, susnames. Comments: 1

Antiquities

An interesting antiquity is the leather shield discovered in 1008 in a bog at Clonbrin, Co. Longford; it probably belongs to the La Tone period

History

The name Longford ( Self Catering, Longford, Ireland) comes from the Gaelic Longford (Accommodation, Longford, Ireland) Ui Fearraill, meaning the fortress of the OFarrell clan. The patriarch, OFarrell, reigned over the in the 12th century, although the official borders of today were not established until 1547 by the Tudors.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Uncategorized. Tags: Argentina, Ballymahon, Cam Clonhugh, Central Plain, Clonbrin, Co. Down, Co. Longford, dgeworthstown, Drumlish, emigrations, Erne River, Gaelic, Ireland, La Tone, leather shield, Longford, Lough Gowna, OFarrell, Rebellion, Royal Canal, Shannon, Silurian, Sligo. Comments: None

The name Longford ( Self Catering, Longford, Ireland) comes from the Gaelic Longford (Accommodation, Longford, Ireland) Ui Fearraill, meaning the fortress of the OFarrell clan. The patriarch, OFarrell, reigned over the in the 12th century, although the official borders of today were not established until 1547 by the Tudors.

During the rebellion of 1798, Longford was the site of numerous bloody battles. The Great Famine decimated the population through starvation and emigration. It was such emigrations that established a link between Longford and the South American county of Argentina, where many people from Longford fled.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under History. Tags: Argentina, Ballymahon, Cam Clonhugh, Central Plain, Co. Down, Co. Longford, dgeworthstown, Drumlish, emigrations, Erne River, Gaelic, Ireland, Longford, Lough Gowna, OFarrell, Rebellion, Royal Canal, Shannon, Silurian, Sligo. Comments: None

The oldest rocks at the surface arr the Ordovician and Silurian shales and sandstones, exposed in the hummocky country about Lough Gowna in Co. Longford as a part of the broad triangular outcrop that readies the sea in Co. Down. They appear again in the cores of the Slieve Bloom Mountains and of the anticline of Slievenaman on the Kilkenny and Tipperary border, and also in south-eastern Kilkenny. Longford ( Self Catering, Longford, Ireland) town is pleasantly placed on the west side of one of these upfolds. Three or four small exposures occur near Moate and Tullamore. The highest crests of the Slieve Bloom Mountains (1600-1750 ft.) lie in West Leinster, and the broad dome feeds numerous rivers from its slopes. Natural basins are formed by the erosion of softer Silurian strata near the crests of the Armorican upfolds.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Geology. Tags: Armorican, Co. Down, Co. Longford, Kilkenny, Leinster, Longford, Lough Gowna, Moate, Ordovician, Silurian, Slieve Bloom, Slievenaman, Tipperary, Tullamore. Comments: None

Edgeworthstown/(Mostrim), located on the N4, is a successful centre. It is very much associated with the celebrated family of Edgeworth, who first settled here in 1583. The story of the Edgeworths is as entertaining as that of the “Arabian Nights”. Among the eminent family members were Richard Lovell Edgeworth, inventor and surveyor, “The ingenious Mr. Edgeworth”, Desmond Clarke has entitled him in his fine biography. Of his twenty four children, Maria the novelist is best known for her work “Castle Rackrent”. Edgeworthstown House turned to be the meeting place of the cultivated Edgeworth circle which included the Pakenhams, Earls of Longford and the Lefroys, Chief Justices of Ireland. Maria was a friend of Sir Walter Scott, and their friendship has influenced his “Waverly” a lot. To quote Sir Walter in his preface to the work, you see him writing “I feel that something might be attempted for my own country of the same kind as that which Miss Edgeworth so fortunately achieved for Ireland”, a proof for the fore told influence. The Abbe Edgeworth who attended Louis XVI on the scaffold during the French revolution later escaped to Russia to tell the tale is a member of this family. Preserved excellently by the Sisters of Mercy, the Edgeworthstown House is functioning at present as a nursing home. The Edgeworth family vault, in which Richard Lovell and Maria are interred, is in the churchyard of Saint John’s. Isola Wilde, sister of the great Oscar Wilde is buried there too. A new visitor Centre is being developed here to facilitate the interpretation on the many renowned persons and historical events associated with the area.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Town. Tags: Abbe Edgeworth, Arabian Nights, Castle Rackrent, Desmond Clarke, Edgeworthstown, Ireland, Isola Wilde, Lefroys, Longford, Pakenhams, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Sir Walter Scott, Waverly. Comments: None

This county town, lies on the south bank of the little Camlin River and aside the Dublin-Sligo road. Its name derived from the name of the ancient castle of the princes of Annaly, the O’ Farrells. She has also founded a Dominican priory in 1400. None of these two buildings has survived save the slight remains of the castle erected by the 1st Earl of Longford in 1627, which is incorporated in the old military barracks. In the time of the Confederate Wars of 1641 this castle was captured by the English, and later it withstood an attack for several weeks by Owen Roe O’ Neil. Near the centre of the town is the nineteenth-century St Mel’s Cathedral, a building representing the Renaissance-style architecture of grey limestone. The saint’s crosier is preserved in the diocesan museum at the rear of this cathedral. Part of the library of Edgeworthstown House is lodged in the St Mel’s College, the diocesan seminary. The County museum that holds many artefacts and provides a genealogical service is now in the old post office in the main street.

Posted on April 16th, 2008 under Town. Tags: Camlin River, Cathedral, Confederate Wars, Dominican, Dublin-Sligo road, Edgeworthstown House, Longford, museum, O' Farrells. Comments: None