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Longford
is an inland county in the province of Leinster. It is bounded
on the North by counties Leitrim and Cavan, on the east and
south by Westmeath and on the west byCounty Roscommon. It's
length from a point in the south west of Lough Rea to a point
in the north-east is 30.5 miles, and its greatest width from
the River Inny to Drumshanbo Lake is 18 miles.
NAME
AND FORMER DIVISIONS
Longford
town which gives its name to the county was formerly called Longford
O'Farrell, or the fortress (longphort) of the O'Farrells who were
its ancient proprietors.
The
county of Longford was the ancient territory of Annaly, the hereditary
possession of the O'Farrell family. In earlier times the county
was called North Teffia, being in County Westmeath. The Barony
of Granard which is a part of North Teffia, was called Carbery
of Teffia, and this gives its name to a range of mountains called
Slieve Carbery. The country around the village of Ardagh was called
Calry and St. Mel (the patron saint of Longford), founded a monastery
in Calry.
PHYSICAL
FEATURES
There are no mountains of any importance in Co. Longford. The
highest is Carn Clonhugh (912 feet) which rises in the
middle of a plain south-west of Newtownforbes. Slieve Calry
(or Slieve Gory) is 650 feet high and rises near Ardagh.
The rest of the county is flat with a lot of bogland
The
river Shannon forms the western boundary of the county
for about 14 miles. The river Inny rises in County Westmeath
and runs through County Longford for about 12 miles before it
falls into Lough Ree. The Tang, the Rath and the
Riffey are tributaries of the river Inny. The Ruin
river which flows from County Leitrim falls into Lough Forbes.
The Camlin flows through Longford town and joins the river
Shannon near Cloondara.
Lakes:
In the river Shannon are Lough Forbes which is near Newtownforbes,
and Lough Ree. Lough Ree bounds County Longford
on the south-west.There are many smaller lakes to be found between
Loongford and Leitrim. Lough Gowna is 6 miles long and
belongs partly to County Cavan, Lough Kinale is on the
eastern boundary of County Longford, Glen Lough is found
near Edgesworthstown. Killean and Cloonfin lie near Granard and
Lough Bannow is near Lanesborough. Derry and Derrymacar
Lakes are about 4 miles from Ballymahon.
The
islands of Inchenagh, Clawinch and Inchcleraun
are to be found in Lough Ree. Inchmore is in Lough Gowna
FAMILIES
AND HOUSES, 1926
There were 7,953 families in the county according to the 1926
Census for Ireland, the average number in each family being 4.3.
The number of 'inhabited houses' was 8,957, with an average of
4.4 persons to each house. The Special Inmates of Public institutions
are omitted from these figures.
There
were in the county 7,227 'Occupiers' or 'Heads of Families' who
were in occupation of less than five rooms, this was 90.8% of
the total for the whole county. Of these 198, or 2.5% occupied
one room; 993 or 12.5% occupied two rooms; 4,196 or 52.8%, occupied
three rooms; and 1,840 or 24.4% were in occupation of four rooms.
There
were 89 tenements in the county, in which the room had only one
occupant at that time; 85 cases where the room had two, three
or four occupants; 22 cases in which there were five, six or seven
occupants and 2 cases where the occupants of one room exceeded
7 in number.
ANALYSIS
OF THE CENSUS FOR COUNTY LONGFORD, 1821-1926
| Year |
Males |
Females |
Total
Pop. |
| 1821 |
53,215 |
54,355 |
107,570 |
| 1831 |
55,310 |
57,248 |
112,558 |
| 1841 |
57,610 |
57,881 |
115,491 |
| 1851 |
41,041 |
41,307 |
82,348 |
| 1861 |
36,044 |
35,650 |
71,694 |
| 1871 |
32,512 |
31,989 |
64,501 |
| 1881 |
30,770 |
30,239 |
61,009 |
| 1891 |
26,681 |
25,966 |
52,647 |
| 1901 |
23,814 |
22,858 |
46,672 |
| 1911 |
22,656 |
21,164 |
43,820 |
| 1926 |
20,804 |
19,027 |
39,847 |
EDUCATION
In 1911, there were in the county 36,606 people aged 9 years and
upwards; of these 31,546 or 86.2% could read and write; 1,581
or 4.3% could read only; and 3,479 or 9.5% were illiterate. As
that census was the first for which the age for consideration
had been raised from 5 years to 9 years, no comparison can be
made with figures from earlier censuses. But - the percentage
of those of five years and upwards who were unable to read and
write in 1891 was 16.9%. By 1901 this figure was listed as 13.5%
and in 1911 had fallen to 11.9%.
IRISH
SPEAKING (1861-1911)
| No.
of people |
1861 |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
| Irish
only |
34
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| Irish
& English |
774
|
245
|
640
|
252
|
340
|
915
|
| Irish
Total |
808
|
245
|
642
|
252
|
340
|
915
|
| %
of population |
1.1
|
0.4
|
1.1
|
0.5
|
0.7
|
2.1
|
RELIGIONS,
1871-1926(% of population)
| Religion |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
1926 |
| Presbyterian |
1.0 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.55 |
0.53 |
0.30 |
| Church
of Ireland |
8.1 |
8.0 |
7.7 |
7.29 |
7.03 |
4.95 |
| Roman
Catholic |
90.1 |
90.0 |
91.3 |
91.58 |
91.96 |
94.25 |
| Methodist |
0.2
|
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.43 |
0.37 |
0.27 |
| Others |
0.6 |
0.0
|
0.1 |
0.15 |
0.11 |
0.23 |
EMIGRATION
(1861-1911)
| 1861 |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
| 14,577 |
13,632 |
13,305 |
11,786 |
5,701 |
5,041 |
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