County Longford

County Longford is a land-locked county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is in the province of Leinster. One of the smaller counties, it covers 1,091 km² (421 square miles) with a population of around 47,000 people. It borders the counties Cavan to the northeast, Westmeath to the east and southeast, Roscommon to the west and southwest and Leitrim to the northwest. It is named after Longford, which is the county town and largest in the county housing nearly a quarter of the populous.

Most of Longford lies in the basin of the River Shannon with Lough Ree forming much of the county’s western boundary. The north-eastern part of the county, however, drains towards the River Erne and Lough Gowna. Lakeland, bogland, pastureland, and wetland typify Longford’s generally low-lying landscapes: the highest point of the county is in the northwest at Carn Clonhugh (also known as Cairn Hill) near Drumlish at 279 m (916 feet).

Cairn Hill – ©Archaeomoonwalker CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

In general, the northern third of the county is hilly, forming part of the drumlin belt and Esker Riada stretching across the northern midlands of Ireland. The southern parts of the county are low-lying, with extensive areas of raised bogland and farmland on the county’s border with Roscommon while the Rivers Inny and Tang form much of the boundary with Westmeath.

Royal Canal at Keenagh – Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Royal Canal flows through the south of the county terminating at Cloondara at the Shannon. Notable lakes include Kinale Lough and Lough Gowna on the Cavan border, Lough Forbes on the Roscommon border and of course Lough Ree in the south where Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon meet.

Birding County Longford

The county is blessed with many lakes, rivers and wetland areas with overwintering wildfowl and breeding waterbirds in summer. Glen Lough Nature Reserve is a scenic and peaceful area, particularly great for birdwatching and seeing rare flora and fauna. This unique and biodiverse habitat has a number of walks and ponds to explore. Winter sees Whooper Swans and there is a well-known Starling murmuration on winter evenings.

River Inny at Ballymahon – ©Sarah777 CC BY-SA 23.0 via Wikipedia Commons

There are some decent areas of woodland, albeit mostly plantation favouring conifers. Newcastle Wood has the River Inny, which is a main tributary of the Shannon, running alongside the wood. This, and the mix of trees make it species rich with many woodland birds viewable from the walking trails. Derrycassan is another plantation with Sitka Spruce most prevalent, but it has twenty tree species including broadleafs such as alder, oak, ash and beech. The wood hugs the shoreline of Lough Gowna and an amble through the forest paths and along the lakeshore can be productive with both Treecreeper and Great-spotted Woodpecker, Jays and Buzzard present. It is a good spot for Crossbill among many others in the woods and a variety of water associated species on the lough.