Welcome to County Longford (Contae an Longfoirt, in Irish), the second smallest county on the island of Ireland! In County Longford, a Midlands county in the province of Leinster, you’ll find stunning lakes and waterways, and lovingly preserved sites of immense historic importance. The county motto is “Daingean agus Dílis,” “Strong and Loyal,” and that’s exactly what you’ll find here. Follow the Royal Canal from Dublin to Longford and you will not be disappointed.
Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Saint Mel’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, the most recognizable building in all of Longford town, is notable for its long-term history (built gradually between 1840 and 1892, with pauses caused by famine, finance issues and Catholic persecution) but perhaps more remarkable for its more recent history. On Christmas morning, 2009, the people of Longford woke to find that Saint Mel’s, the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, had been severely damaged in a devastating fire caused by the church’s heating system. The interior and roof were destroyed; only the exterior walls, portico and campanile were left standing.
Somehow, at a time when Ireland was entering its painful recession years, the Diocese and the people of Longford banded together to form the St. Mel’s Project Committee, which became one of the biggest restoration projects in all of Europe at the time. A mere five years later in 2014, the re.
