Places to Visit

The Shannon

 

The west of Longford is bordered by the Upper River Shannon, rising in County Cavan, the river flows 250km to the sea at Limerick, the longest river in the British Isles. Throughout Irelands turbulent history the mighty Shannon figures prominently, the great natural barrier dividing Leinster from Connaught, east from west. The river is named for the mythical Sionan. She was supposed to have drowned whilst feeding on the salmon of knowledge a privilege that was denied to all females.

 

The importance of the Shannon has long been understood. In Celtic times the fords were jealously guarded by the rival provinces and the Shannon acted as a natural defensive boundary for both. The Vikings sailed their longboats up its navigable waters, The Normans unable to control Connaught fortified the river to protect the rich plains of Leinster.

 

Following his victorious campaign in Ireland Cromwell sent the defeated Irish to hell or to Connaught; for thousands the crossing of the Shannon meant the surrendering of their lands and eviction from their homes. In more recent times it was used as a great system of transport and communication. The Shannon traces the complete history through the ages, from the earliest Neolithic settlements, through the glories of Clonmacnois and the monastic era and turbulent times of the Vikings, Norman and English invasions. It now serves more productive purposes, a giant hydro-electrical plant having been opened at Ardnacrusha in 1929 and a power stations at Shannonbridge and Lanesbouragh uses peat harvested nearby.

 

The Shannon acts as a focal point for the whole country. Its gentle flowing water and broad expansive lakes have become acclaimed recreational and tourist resources.

 

With super coarse and game angling facilities as well as being navigable by pleasure craft and inter-linked with the Grand Canal network, the delights of the Shannon are being sampled by ever increasing numbers annually.

 

 

 

Lough Ree / Saint's Island

 

Lough Ree said to be the fifth largest lake in Ireland offers a wide variety of amenity, historic and tourist attractions to the visitor. An old poet sung of Lough Ree and its thousand Islands. While this is obviously poetic exaggeration, nevertheless the lake has many fascinating islands, including Iniscleraun, Inisbofin and The Black Islands on the Longford side. There are a variety of early Christian and Viking remains to be found. The shores of Lough Ree have long been regarded as an exciting habitat for wild flowers. The Shell Guide to the Shannon has excellent notes on the flora and fauna of the area. The lake is a noted angling area and caters for sailing, boating and cruising.

 

Saints Island

 

On Saints Island stand the ruins of an Augustinian monastery. It flourished during the fourteenth century under the scholarly Abbot, Augustin Magraidin, but the ravages of time took their toll and the site lay derelict for centuries. Augustin Magaidrin was described as a sage during his lifetime in divine and worldly wisdom. Magaidrin was the author of an important manuscript collection of the lives of Irish Saints which has been a valuable source for later writers. The work is preserved in the Rawlinson collection of manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Magaidrin also compiled the Annals of the Abbey of All Saints, Lough Ree, listed by the Four Masters as one of their sources. It is also available in the Bodhleian Library. Magaidrin died in 1405.

 

Saints Island has been linked to the mainland by a causeway for some years. This quiet water place is a favourite haunt of marsh birds. In spring the curlew, lapwing and various species of wild duck may be seen in great numbers.

 

 

 

Ardagh

 

The early history of Ardagh begins a short distance outside the village at Brí Leith. This forested hill was once a famous centre of pre-Christian religious worship. The importance of the hill rested in the fact that it commanded extensive views over the surrounding countryside. With the coming of Christianity in the fifth century, the centre of religious worship moved away from Brí Leith to Ardagh itself. The name Ardagh, Árd Archadh in Irish, means the high field, which indicates that when St Mel first arrived here the area was unsettled with lots of open ground on which to build.

 

While Ardaghs importance declined with the coming of the Normans, a change in its fortunes was to occur with the arrival of a new family, the Fetherstons. The Fetherstons made Ardagh their new home and built the present Ardagh House in the early 1700s.

 

In 1744 one of the most famous incidents in Ardaghs history occurred. This was the visit of young Oliver Goldsmith who was fooled into mistaking the mansion (Ardagh House) for an inn. His endeavors to court the Fetherston daughters in the belief that they were servant girls formed the plot of his most successful play "She Stoops to Conquer ", a comedy which explores the contemporary themes of sexual morality and double standards. The enduring legacy of the Fetherstons, however, is the village of Ardagh itself. The village and estate were managed by Sir George Ralph Fetherston and his English wife Frances Solly from Essex. It was Sir Georges nephew, however, who was to have most dramatic impact on Ardagh. He was to employ Victorian architect John Rawson Carroll to improve the village as a memorial to his late uncle George. Many of the buildings in the village were built at this time.

 

Directions

 

10 km from Longford on the N5 at Ardagh Village

 

 

 

Royal Canal

 

Extending 145km (90 miles) from Dublin to Tarmonbarry on the Upper River Shannon, the Royal Canal, a canal of forty-six locks, traverses a delightfully attractive scenic route through Counties Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare and Dublin. Unfortunately, the beauty of its journey failed to compensate for its lack of commercial viability.

 

The canal was built by a disgruntled former director of the Grand Canal Company whose aim was to undermine the more successful venture of his former company. His gamble failed. The Royal Canal cost £15,000 per mile to construct (more than twice the cost of its rival) and completely bankrupted its originator as well as a number of small investors. Eventually, having reached a point west of Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, the funds dried up. The Government had to finance the cost of completing the work as far as the Shannon. Never very successful, in 1845 the canal was sold to the Midland and Great Western Railway Company which used the land along the canal banks for their railway from Dublin to the West.

 

 

This, along with the development of other speedier forms of overland transport sounded the death-knell of the canal. Even though it was 1961 before the canal was finally closed for traffic, boats had long ceased to use the route.

 

The Royal Canal Amenity Group was formed in 1974 to try and save the canal from complete dereliction. In this they have been remarkably successful. Today, restoration work is in full progress, under the administration of the Office of Public Works.

 

Much of the work on the section between Dublin and Mullingar has been completed, providing wonderful recreational and angling facilities for public and tourist alike. Attention will soon turn to the western sections near the Shannon. When completed the Royal Canal will add greatly to the already impressive navigable inland waterway network in Ireland.