LONGFORD TOPOGRAPHY
The general outline of the county presents little to attract the eye or excite the imagination. It is for the most part flat and in many places overspread with large tracts of bog. Towards the north, where it borders on the county of Leitrim, it rises into bleak and sterile mountains. In its other extremity the country improves very much, particularly on the banks of the Inny, where the land is much more fertile and is well cultivated. Near Ballymahon the scenery is varied and beautiful.
Lakes are numerous in many parts, particularly in the baronies of Longford and Granard; the most extensive are Lough Gownagh, in the northern extremity of the county, and Lough Kinale near Granard, both of which contribute to form the boundary between this county and Cavan. In each there are several islands, and each possesses considerable interest from the surrounding scenery, which is much heightened by numerous young and flourishing plantations.
The principal islands in Lough Gownagh are Innismore, Inchmory, Innisdavoge, and Jasper island, each of which is fertile, planted, or embellished with remains of ancient buildings: those of Lough Kinale are Chapel island and Bruree; the former has the ruins of an old church on it; the latter is planted. The other more remarkable lakes are Loughs Bon, Bonnow, Drum, Derry, Drumurry, Doogary, Gurteen, Tully, and Glin. The last-named, which is on the borders of the county eastward of Edgeworthstown, receives several streams from the north and west, and empties its waters by a winding river into Lough Iron, in the county of Westmeath.
The Shannon is the boundary along the whole western verge of the county, separating it from Connaught, and for the greater part of its course presents more the appearance of a lake than that of a river; near the north-western boundary of Longford is Lough Forbes, about five miles long by one broad; and at Lanesborough is the commencement of Lough Ree, a noble expanse of water extending from that town to the neighbourhood of Athlone.
The islands of this lake are numerous, and some of them large; those which may be considered to belong to the county of Longford are All Saints, Inchban, Innisbofin, Inniscloran, Quakers' island, and Inchynough. The soil of this county, like the surface, is exceedingly various, changing from a light thin mould to a deep loamy clay, without any apparent variation in the geological arrangement: much of the north is in a state of nature, and the practicability of draining, reclaiming, and cultivating to any profitable purpose is exceedingly doubtful.
Toward the south the prevailing character is a rich vegetable mould resting on blue clay, very retentive of moisture and based on a substratum of yellow marl, two or three feet thick, ultimately resting either on an excellent marl or limestone gravel. In this part of the country every kind of grain and green crop may be cultivated to the greatest advantage. The barony of Granard is mostly good land producing a short, close and sweet herbage; the elevated district between Edgeworthstown and Longford has a good soil, which yields abundant crops of grain, but westward of the latter place, except in the immediate neighbourhood of Newtown-Forbes, the land is much encumbered with surface water, the injurious effects of which could be easily obviated by a judicious system of draining.
The level parts of the county are mostly in pasture, producing great varieties of acidulous plants occasioned by the overflowing of the rivers, or by the accumulation of surface water: these meadows, if properly drained and secured, would rank among some of the best in Ireland. Bogs are very numerous in many parts of the county, and everywhere capable of drainage and reclamation; but in consequence of the water being suffered to remain in them, numerous gullies or swallows are formed, which though always full never run over, although numerous small streams flow into them, whence it is evident that their waters must find a subterraneous passage to the Shannon, the Inny, or some other river, thus silently but forcibly pointing out the means by which the land may be made available to the service of man.
The chief crops are oats and potatoes, but the sowing of wheat and barley is becoming more general; and flax, rape, clover, turnips and vetches are sometimes sown. Rape thrives peculiarly well on boggy soil, and the produce is everywhere very great. The practice of laying down land with grass or clover seeds is gaining ground every year. All the surplus grain is purchased in Longford and other markets, and sent down the Royal Canal to Dublin or Drogheda. Agricultural implements are of an inferior description, except with the gentry and wealthier farmers; one-horse carts of excellent construction are universal.
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