Longford (town) Voyage Tips and guide

Longford Town is the county town of County Longford. It's a quiet market town with few attractions of its own, but it's a convenient base for visiting for several prehistoric sites.

Longphort means "ship's port" yet Longford is far from the sea, and some distance from the navigable River Shannon - its tributary the Camlin flows through town but isn't suitable for anything bigger than a kayak. The name originally applied to Viking settlements, which always had boat access, but it became adopted into Irish as the name for any large settlement. This place was sometimes distinguished as Longfort Uí Fhearghail - Longford O'Farrell, for the local rulers. The O'Farrells ruled a small state that resisted the expansion of Norman Leinster, so Longford never acquired the stout walls, bastions and abbeys of the Norman cities. It was simply a provincial market and light industrial town, growing slowly from 1855 when the railway arrived, and in 2022 it had a population of about 11,000.

The Tourist Office is in Market Square, open M-F 10AM-4PM.

53°43′30″N 7°47′42″W

Map of Longford (town)

Trains from Dublin Connolly run every couple of hours and take 1 hr 50 min to Longford via Drumcondra, Maynooth and Mullingar; they continue to Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Ballymote and Sligo. There are 7 M-F, 6 Sa, 5 Sunday. See Irish Rail for timetables, fares and online tickets.

53.7245-7.7951 Longford railway station is 200 m south of town centre. It has ticket machines, toilets and a cafe.

Expressway Bus 22 / 23 runs every hour or two from Dublin Busáras, taking 2 hr 30 min via Dublin Airport, Lucan, Maynooth and Mullingar. Bus 23 continues to Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle and Sligo, while Bus 22 heads west to Ballina.

Bus Éireann 466 runs every couple of hours from Athlone to Ballymahon, Keenagh (for Corlea Trackway), Longford (50 min), Edgeworthstown and Cavan Town.

Bus 65 runs once F & Su from Galway to Tuam, Roscommon, Longford, Granard and Cavan.

Andrew Wharton Bus 975 runs five times M-Sa from Cavan, taking 75 min.

Local Link Bus 466 runs every couple of hours from Roscommon, taking 35 min.

Bus 816 runs three times a day from Mullingar, taking 1 hr 40 min.

Bus LR24 runs twice M-F from Ballymahon, taking 30 min via Keenagh.

Bus 865 runs four times a day from Lough Gowna, taking 1 hr 20 min via Granard.

Buses stop on Main St and at the railway station.

From Dublin follow M4 to N4 past Mullingar. From Longford the N4 continues to Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle and Sligo.

From Athlone follow N55 (for Cavan) and cut off at Ardagh onto R393.

N5 runs from Westport in County Mayo via Castlebar, Knock Airport, Tulsk and Strokestown to Longford.

From Galway it's quicker to take M6 to Athlone then N55, but you could follow N63 via Roscommon.

The town is compact but you need wheels to reach the outlying sites: they're within range of a bike.

The town taxi firm is Nevin's (+353 86 259 5690).

• 53.727-7.79641 St Mel's Cathedral, St Mel's Rd N39 PC58, ☏ +353 43 334 6465. Daily 8AM-8PM. Neoclassical Roman Catholic cathedral built 1840-56 and named for St Mél of Ardagh (d 488), a nephew of St Patrick. It was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day 2009, but restored and reopened on 24 Dec 2014. Fittings include a Carrara marble altar, a silver tabernacle, a 2307-piped organ, and new stained glass windows.  (updated Jan 2026)
• St Johns is the Anglican church, north river bank.
• 53.6126-7.84532 Corlea Trackway (Danes Road), Cartron Rd, Keenagh N39 XT18 (15 km south of town on R397), ☏ +353 43 332 2386. Apr-Oct daily 10AM-6PM. In 1985 oak timbers were found in a peat-digging site; they dated to 148 BC (the Iron Age) and were part of a 1 km togher, a causeway across a bog. The track, suitable for carts, crossed to a small island then another section continued for 1 km to the other side. But it doesn't seem to have been a transport route, rather an aisle into the bog for some ritual purpose. It was only used for a few years then sank, and the bog conditions preserved the timber. An 18 metre stretch of it is displayed in a humid, climate-controlled hall, while the rest has been left submerged, and the bog stabilised. Free.  (updated Jan 2026)
• 53.847-7.6053 Aughnacliffe 25 km north of Longford is a tiny village with a striking dolmen: it looks like giant play-bricks have been balanced on each other. It's in a field 200 m east of the lane through the village. Cleenrath is another dolmen 700 m north. There are 7 ringforts around the village, the best is Sonnagh Fort 1.5 km south. "Sonnagh" means palisade and the ringforts were probably more like fortified farms.

• What's on? Listen to Shannonside FM on 104.1 MHz, or read the Longford Leader, published Wednesday.
• Cinema: the Omniplex is on Bridge St in town centre.
• Backstage is a theatre and arts centre off Park Rd, 500 m south of the railway station.
• Gaelic football: the County GAA team play at Pearse Park, capacity 8000, 1 km north of town centre. This stadium doesn't have a resident club team.
• Soccer: Longford Town play in the League of Ireland First Division, the Republic's second tier. Their stadium (capacity 5100) is at Strokestown Rd (sponsored as Bishopsgate) on N5 three km west of town centre. The playing season is Feb-Nov.
• The Mall is the sports and leisure complex, with pool, gym and fitness classes. It's on the riverbank 500 m northeast of town centre off Templemichael Terrace.
• Longford Canal is a spur of the Royal Canal. The main canal is navigable all the way from Dublin to the Shannon, but the spur is disused, just a reedy ditch. It has pleasant trails alongside for walking and cycling.
• Golf: County Longford GC is 1 km southeast of town off Dublin Rd. It's a parkland course of 6075 m, par 72.
• Longford Agricultural Show is in July.
• Longford Marathon is at the end of August.

• The shopping centre is a block east of Main St. It has a big Tesco, open M-Sa 8AM-10PM, Su 10AM-8PM.

• Take 2 on Earl St is open Su-Th noon-7PM, F Sa noon-9PM.
• Spice India at 8 Ballymahon St is open M-Sa 5-11PM, Su 3-10PM.
• Gurkha's Bistro at 17 Ballymahon St is open M-F 4:30-11PM, Sa Su 1-11PM.
• Chan Oriental on Kildare St is open M-Th 5-11:30PM, F Sa 4:30PM-midnight, Su 3:30-11:30PM.
• Jodhpur at 26 Dublin St by the cathedral is open W-M 4:30-10:30PM.
• Midtown Kitchen at 2 Main St is open W Th 5-8:30PM, F Sa 12:30-9:30PM, Su 1-7:30PM.
• Oyama Sushi in Grafton Court is open Su-Th 10AM-9:30PM, F Sa 10AM-10:30PM.
• Vocella's at 4 Main St is open Tu-Su noon-8PM, M noon-5PM.
• Courtyard Cafe in Hibernian Court is open M-Sa 9:30AM-4:30PM.
• Moments Cafe at 64 Main St is open M-Sa 9AM-4:30PM, Su 10AM-4PM.
• Mekong at 46 Main Street is open M-W noon-10PM, Th-Su noon-11PM.

• Bars in town centre include Andy Byrne's, Valentines, Lyons, Peter Clarke's, Tally Ho, the Market Bar, and the Bottleneck.
• Lough Ree Distillery is at Lanesborough, 10 km southwest on the boundary with County Roscommon. They produce gin, vodka and whiskey; no tours.

• 53.7285-7.80151 Longford Arms Hotel, 25 Main St N39 X4H6, ☏ +353 43 334 6296. This town centre hotel has inadequate cleaning, some rooms refurbished but others tatty, food indifferent.  (updated Jan 2026)
• PV's Hotel, 4 Ballymahon St N39 P9F6, ☏ +353 43 332 8840. Clean and comfy but noisy, and food so-so. B&B double €130. (updated Jan 2026)
• Cathedral View Apartments are spacious self-catering apartments near the railway station.
• 53.7264-7.83332 Augherea House, Aghareagh N39 PW29, ☏ +353 87 648 6832. Stylish rooms in the stables of a 1775 coaching inn 1 km west of town. B&B double €120.  (updated Jan 2026)
• 53.7421-7.9193 Keenan's Hotel, Main St, Termonbarry N39 W968 (5 km west of Longford), ☏ +353 43 332 6098. Pleasant hotel west bank of the Shannon with good bistro and bar. B&B double €160.  (updated Jan 2026)

As of Jan 2026, Longford and its approach roads have 4G from Vodafone, and 5G from Eir and Three.

• Carrick-on-Shannon is the main base for exploring the upper Shannon and County Leitrim.
• Roscommon has a Norman castle and friary, and several prehistoric sites.