Longford marks International Women's Day with historic photographic exhibition

Only 20 female councillors ever elected in County Longford across 127 years

Press Release: Monday, 2 March 2026 

Longford County Council will host a photographic exhibition at Áras an Chontae this month to mark International Women's Day. The exhibition is curated from council records stretching back to 1899, and gathers the faces and stories of every woman ever elected to public office in County Longford - from Town Commissions and Urban District Councils to the County Council itself. The exhibition will run from Friday, 6 March to Friday, 13 March during office opening hours. 

That figure is stark: just 20 women in 127 years. Today, only two of the 18 seats on Longford County Council are held by women - 11% - making it one of the lowest rates of female representation in the country. Only Donegal (8%) and Mayo (10%) fare worse. By comparison, Dublin City Council stands at 40% and Fingal at 33%. Even among its midlands neighbours, Longford trails Loais (26%), Leitrim (22%), Roscommon (17%) and Westmeath (15%). 

Nationally, women hold 27% of county council seats - 256 of 949. Longford's 11% is less than half that figure. 

A Trail Blazed in 1899

The exhibition opens with Françoise Edgeworth, elected to Granard Rural District Council in 1899 and one of the first female councillors in all of Ireland. French-born and married into the Edgeworth family - to a nephew of the celebrated writer Maria Edgeworth - she served on a body responsible for labourers' housing, sanitation and workhouse oversight at a time when women were largely excluded from public life entirely. 

The women who followed her include: Moya Bligh (Granard Rural District Council 1902); Elizabeth Fanning, the first woman elected to Longford Urban District Council (1928); Sybil Magan (Granard Urban District Council 1942); Margaret Magan (Granard Town Commission 1950); Philo Kelly, who served the UDC for 32 years from 1967; Mary Ellen Brady (Longford County Council 1974); Elizabeth Connolly (Longford Urban District Council 1980); Nancy Allen Carr (Granard Town Commission 1984); Claire Brady Casey (Longford County Council 1990) and Maura Kilbride Harkin, who became the first female Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council in 1995-96 and later served as County Mayor in 2004-05. Other women honoured in the exhibition include Carmel Fay (Granard Town Commission 1994); Judy Gorman (Granard Town Commission 1994); and Brenda Meaney (nee Tallon) (Granard Town Commission 1999).

Peggy Nolan was first elected to Longford Urban District Council in 1999 and to Longford County Council in 2004. Peggy served as Mayor on two occasions and topped the poll in both Town and County Council elections in 2004 and 2009. Other women featured in the exhibition include Mary O'Reilly (Granard Town Commission 1999); Paddie Connellan (Longford Town Council 204) and Anne Farrelly (Granard Town Council 2009). 

Mae Sexton made history in 1999 as the first ever chairwoman of Longford Urban District Council in its 100-year history, and went on to become Longford's first female TD, topping the poll in the 2002 general election. 

Uruemu Adejinmi, elected to the county council in 2020, became the first African woman elected to the council and the first Black woman in Ireland to serve as Cathaoirleach of a Municipal District. 

The exhibition also pays tribute to Maura Lamb, Ireland's first female town clerk, who held the post for 43 years until her retirement in 1969. 

Cathaoirleach of Longford Municipal District Cllr Uruemu Adejinmi said, "Women's perspectives and expertise have been largely absent from decision-making here for over a century. At just 11% Longford is one of the lowest-ranking councils in the country for female representation - and we are determined to change that. This exhibition is not just a record of who came before. It is a call to the young women of Longford to step forward, as Françoise Edgeworth did in 1899, and make their mark on public life."

Chief Executive of Longford County Council, Paddy Mahon said, "This exhibition names and honours the women who have represented the people of Longford in public life - many of them quietly, without recognition. Only 20 women in 127 years. That figure alone tells us what we still need to change. We want to see more women elected to Longford County Council, and we want to see them come from every background and community in this country."

The exhibition is on display at Áras an Chontae, Longford County Council offices, from Friday, 6 March to Friday, 13 March during office opening hours. It is free and open to the public. The council hopes that the exhibition will encourage greater participation by women - and particularly women from diverse backgrounds - in local government.