Co. Longford

Armstrong, Robert Williams (1824–84), architect, civil engineer, and co-founder of Belleek Pottery, was born in Co. Longford, son of Francis Armstrong, architect and builder. Despite an early aptitude for pottery, he trained as an architect and civil engineer, exhibiting designs at…

Beere, Thekla (June) (1901–91), civil servant and first chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women, was born 20 June 1901 in Kilmore, Columbkille, near Granard, Co. Longford, one of two daughters of the Rev. Francis John Armstrong Beere, Church of Ireland vicar of Streete,…

Belton, John (‘Johnnie’) Aloysius (1903–69), diplomat, was born 6 November 1903 at 37 Ballymahon St., Longford town, youngest child and second son of John Belton (b. 1861), corn and wool buyer, and his wife Margaret (b. 1867; née Farrell) who ran a stationery shop. He was educated…

Brooke, Charlotte (1750☓1760–1793), poet, dramatist, and pioneer in the introduction of Irish culture to the English reader, was born at Rantavan House, Mullagh, Co. Cavan, daughter of Henry Brooke (qv) and Catherine Brooke (née Meares; 1718?–…

Butler, Richard (1794–1862), clergyman and antiquarian, was born 14 October 1794 near Granard, Co. Longford, second son among six sons and a daughter of Richard Butler, clergyman in Burnchurch, Co. Kilkenny, and Martha Butler (née Rothwell). He attended Kilkenny College and…

Clinton, Charles (1690–1773), colonist in America, was born in Co. Longford. It is possible that he was distantly related to the de Clintons, prominent Anglo-Norman landowners in Co. Longford and Co. Louth who remained catholic until 1660 at the earliest. Alternatively he may have…

Colum, Padraic (1881–1972), playwright, poet, and novelist, was born 8 December 1881 in Longford, eldest of eight children of Patrick Collumb, master of the Longford workhouse and stationmaster in the Sandycove railway station near Dublin, and Susan Collumb (née MacCormack), from Co…

Conway, Dominic (1918–96), missionary, catholic bishop of Elphin, and historian, was born in rural Co. Longford on 1 January 1918, in the parish of Templemichael and Ballymacormack in the diocese of Ardagh, second child of Dominic Conway, family grocer, and Mary (née Hoare). The…

Cunningham, Larry (1938–2012), country music singer, was born on 13 February 1938 in Clooneen, Mullinalaghta, near Granard, Co. Longford, the second youngest of seven children (four daughters and three sons) of Michael Cunningham and Julia Cunningham (née Cosgrove), who farmed fifty…

Dobson, George Edward (1848–95), zoologist, was born 4 September 1848 at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, the eldest son of Parke Dobson, a doctor in Edgeworthstown, who was of a family from Killinagh, Co. Westmeath, and his wife, Jane, née Brock or van den Brock, who was the…

Dooley, James Thomas (1877–1950), New South Wales premier, was born 26 April 1877 at Carrick Crean, Co. Longford, fourth son of Thomas Dooley, farmer, and Elizabeth Dooley (née O'Connor). The family emigrated to Australia when James was a child, landing in Brisbane on 1 August…

Duignan, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’) (1871–1929), criminal and prostitute, was born c.26 December 1871 in Edenmore, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, eldest among two daughters and three sons of Francis Duignan (1837–1930), farmer, and Anne Duignan (née Gray) (1852–1924); the pet name ‘…

Edgeworth (de Firmont), Abbé Henry Essex (1745–1807), priest, confessor to Louis XVI, was born in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, the second son of eight children of the Rev. Robert Edgeworth, landowner and rector of Edgeworthstown. Maria…

Edgeworth, Francis Ysidro (1845–1926), economist and statistician, was born 8 February 1845 at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, fifth of six sons of Francis Beaufort Edgeworth and his Spanish wife Rosa Florentina Eroles, daughter of a political refugee from Catalonia; he was a grandson…

Edgeworth, Maria (1768–1849), novelist, essayist, and educationist, was born at Black Bourton Manor, Oxfordshire, England, the estate of the Hungerford family; her maternal grandmother was a Hungerford heiress. Her date of birth is sometimes given as 1 January 1767. Edgeworth considered…

Edgeworth, Michael Pakenham (1812–81), botanist and administrator in India, was born at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, on 24 May 1812, the youngest son of Richard Lovell Edgeworth (qv) of Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, author and…

Edgeworth, Richard Lovell (1744–1817), landowner, inventor, and writer, was born 31 May 1744 in Bath, Somerset, second son and seventh among eight children of Richard Edgeworth, lawyer and landowner, and his wife Jane, daughter of Samuel Lovell, a Welsh judge. Of the children only…

Egan, Patrick (1841–1919), nationalist, was born 13 August 1841 in Ballymahon, Co. Longford, son of Francis Egan, a tenant-farmer who later became a civil engineer. Educated locally, at the age of 17 he moved to Glasnevin, Dublin, and began working as a clerk at the headquarters of…

Farrell, James Patrick (‘J. P.’) (1865–1921), politician and journalist, was born 13 May 1865 in Longford, eldest of five children of Patrick Farrell of Longford and Ann Farrell (née Lynam) of Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. Educated at St Mel's College in Longford, he became involved…

Farrell, Terence (1798–1876), sculptor, was born at Creve, Co. Longford, where his family ran a number of stone quarries. Nothing more is known of his parents except that in 1810 he moved with his mother to Dublin, where they joined his elder brother, then working there as a stone…

Flood, Peter (c.1742–1803), priest and president of Maynooth College, was born in Co. Longford; there are no details of his early life. He went to France, where he studied for the priesthood. After ordination, he entered the Irish Collège des Lombards, Paris, in 1772,…

Forbes, George (1760–1837), 6th earl of Granard , soldier, and politician, was born 14 June 1760 at Newtownforbes, Co. Longford, the only child of George Forbes (1740–80), 5th earl of Granard, and his first wife Dorothy, second daughter of Sir Nicholas Bayley, bart. He was educated…

Forbes, Sir Arthur (1623–c.1696), 1st earl of Granard , soldier and politician, was born in Longford, son of Sir Arthur Forbes, 1st Baron Granard, of Castle Forbes, Co. Longford (originally from Aberdeenshire, Scotland), and his wife Lady Jane Lauder (née Hamilton) of the Isle…

Goldsmith, Oliver (1728–74), poet, essayist, dramatist, and novelist, was born 10 November 1728 at Pallas, Co. Longford (though 1729 and 1730 have also been suggested for the year of his birth, and Lissoy, Co. Westmeath, for its location) He was the second of five sons (and three…

Guinan, Joseph (1863–1932), writer and priest, was born at Millbrook House, Cloghan, Co. Offaly; his parents were comfortable tenant farmers. Educated at St. Mel's College, Longford, he entered Maynooth in 1881. After being ordained in 1888 by Bishop…