County Longford is one of the most beautiful of Irelands midland counties. Longford
borders with Roscommon and Leitrim, Cavan and Westmeath. Longford is situated in the
Shannon basin and the upper catchment of Lough Erne. It is a county of rolling hills and
waterways, wetlands and boglands and towns which mark it as a county of breathtaking
beauty.
Longford is an excellent spot for those investigating bogland in Ireland. The
Ballykenny/Fishertown raised bog, 94 hectares is a protected peatland. Cloondara is a
village west of Longford town where the Royal Canal forms a terminal with the Shannon. In
the scenic village an old stone mill and weir and mill pond are found. The canal extends
90 miles to Dublin.
Longford has many historical and heritage sites - The Abbeylara Cistercian Abbey,
St. Patrick's Church, Dolmens at Aughacliffe, Ardagh House and Ecclesiastical village, Cairn
Hill, Ballymacrolly Hill, Inchcleraun early monastery situated on an island in Lough Ree,
Keenagh Monastery, Clonfin Monument, Granard Motte, Stone Circles at Abbeylara, The
Longford Museum and Heritage Centre, St. Mels Diocesan Museum.
Some of the many towns scattered around Longford are Edgeworthstown, Abbeylara,
Abbeyshrule, Newtown Cashel, Lanesborogh and Newtown Forbes. In the summer the Longford
Summer Festival takes place. Many traditional pubs and eateries are dispersed throughout
the elegant Longford.