Longford County Council receives MacGuinness family archival donation

Collection includes items from the Irish Revolutionary period and is now available for public access

Press Release: Friday, 6 June 2025

Longford County Council is pleased to confirm that its Archives Service has recently received an important donation of archives and objects from descendants of the MacGuinness family of Longford town.

Donated by Judge Deirdre Gearty and her cousin Richard Callanan, the collection includes two albums of photographs containing pictures of family members and many locals taken during the Revolutionary period, 1912-1923. Other important items in the collection include three autograph books and some objects made by Joe MacGuinness (1875-1922) while in prison.

The MacGuiness family from Longford town included Frank MacGuinness, who ran shops at numbers 2 and 4, Main Street. Frank, his brother Joe and their nieces, Brigid Lyons and Rose MacGuinness took part in the 1916 Rising. Joe was elected the MP for South Longford in the famous 1917 South Longford by-election, and he went on to serve in the First Dáil. His nieces Margaret, Brigid and Maureen were heavily involved in Cumann na mBan.

Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Casey expresses gratitude to the donors for their generosity. “Longford County Council is deeply grateful to Deirdre and Richard for their generosity in donating this extraordinary collection of material. Their MacGuinness relatives played a huge part in the fight for independence and this collection will help people to learn more about them.”

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon reflects on the importance of preserving such material for the community. “Archives and artefacts bring us very close to the people of the past. It is wonderful that a collection like this has been kept so carefully over the past century, and now the community in Longford can have access to it.”

The collection is available in the research room of Longford County Library and Archives Services, Longford Centre.