Longford

County of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Leinster; county town Longford; area 1,040 sq km/401 sq mi; population (2002) 31,100. The county is low-lying (the highest point is Carn Clonhugh 279 m/916 ft), and the western border is formed of the River Shannon and part of Lough Ree, one of several lakes. Other rivers are the Camlin, a tributary of the Shannon, and the Inny, which flows into Lough Ree. Agricultural activities include cattle and sheep rearing, and the production of oats and potatoes.

In the Rebellion of 1798, one of the decisive battles to crush the rising took place at Ballinamuck, County Longford. The novelist Maria Edgeworth spent most of her life in Edgeworthstown in the county.

Longford

County town of County Longford, Republic of Ireland, on the River Camlin; population (2002) 6,800. The principal industries are textiles, component manufacture, pet-food production, engineering, and timber processing.

Longford was the seat of the O'Farrells, who had a fort here and founded a Dominican friary in 1400. Nothing remains of these structures but there are some remains of a castle erected by the Earl of Longford in 1627. St Mel's Cathedral, built in 1840 in the Italian Renaissance style, is regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Ireland. The crosier is held in the county museum.