LONGFORD  , the

county town of Co . Longford, Ireland, on the river Camlin, and on a branch of the Midland Great Western railway, 75 M . W.N.W. of Dublin . Pop . (1901) 3747 . The principal building is St Mel's Roman Catholic cathedral for the diocese of Ardagh, one of the finest Roman Catholic churches in Ireland . The town has a considerable trade in grain, butter and bacon . There are corn-mills, a spool factory and tanneries . Longford is governed by an urban district council . The ancient name of the town was Athfada, and here a monastery is said to have been founded by St Idus, a disciple of St Patrick . The town obtained a fair and market from James I. and a charter of incorporation from Charles II., as well as the right to return two members to parliament . It was disfranchised at the Union in 1800 .