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I was asked to leave a review of our tour during Heritage week August 2023 of Edgeworthstown and its principal historic buildings which ended at the Maria Edgeworth centre.
Overall, the content and delivery of the tour by our tour guide Matt was superb. He guided us around the various historic buildings in Edgeworthstown giving us a full history and highlighting their significance to the Edgeworth family.
The Maria Edgeworth centre is packed to the gills with interesting stuff and it is a credit to those who managed to preserve so much against all the odds. The way it is arranged, the presentation would be equally of interest to adults and older children.
Overall, I consider Maria Edgeworth as author, educator and much more, to be of immense value to the Irish state and to Co. Longford in particular. At present, her legacy does not receive the prominence it deserves and as a result, tourists sail by on the adjacent motorways on to Yeats country and Joyce country and Oliver Goldsmith territory bypassing Edgeworthstown.
I myself studied Castle Rackrent for Leaving Cert and this drew my attention to the author creating in me a lasting interest. Therefore, I would strongly recommend the inclusion of her novels in school curricula and for the centre to be considered more as a school tour destination.
It is also a shame that there has been little or no investment from the state into the historic building in Edgeworthstown and some would have been lost forever only for the passion and determination of a handful of locals which has to be admired. There is plenty of money about which could be channelled into this kind of legacy thus bringing more employment and tourism to Longford. Why don’t the Government institute a tax- incentivised scheme of investment for for the preservation of such legacies? If legacies such are Maria Edgeworths are not preserved, I think the state will in due course regret the lack of input into salvaging what’s left of such historic legacies. Many thanks to all those who organised the guided tour of Edgeworthstown and the Maria Edgeworth centre - a...
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The Maria Edgeworth Centre is situated in an old school building from the year 1840 and has been adapted to interpret the story of the Edgeworth Family, but mostly concentrating on Maria...….a fascinating character who was an early pioneer in education and a well renowned writer, equal to her contemporaries, if not more, in her time, one of which was Jane Austin.
With history and the passage of time, Maria's good work and life is perhaps, not as known as it should be, and I hold my hand up and admit I knew next to nothing of the lady. So with this in mind I was happy to visit the Centre and learn something both new and interesting.
Arrived and was warmly welcomed by both Matt and Janine (from Germany), both very friendly and clearly passionate about the centre and keeping alive the spirit of the Edgeworth family.
Janine (I hope I spelt that correctly) kindly gave me a quick run down on Maria and also was kind enough to show me around the centre, highlighting the many achievements of not only Maria but also her parents and siblings........ giving an impression of a family that was well ahead of their time....in science and in the methodology of teaching. The rooms are very well laid out, showing a wide variety of portraits of the family, the many books, and has the setting of an old classroom, which it was back in the day. It was easy to walk around, take in all the history and read up about the life and times of the Edgeworth family.
There is also seating outside and as far as I know coffee and tea is available.....
I enjoyed my time at the centre and learnt an awful lot, and I think its definitely a place to bring a friend or relative who has a liking for local history.......
Its great to see that the memory of Maria and her family is alive and well.....a great testament to their life and great work in the local...
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Having lived here for so long, I finally visit this heritage centre packed with so much history. Do you know Richard Edgeworth, Maria Edgeworth's father was a politian, writer and inventor. One his popular invention was to create better roads. This building has 3 rooms, two on ground floor and one open floor above. It certainly brings back memories of Maria living in the court yard filled with lovely scents of flowers some of which you can see in my picture. Guess what, Edgeworthstown is a gateway town linking the Northern Ireland to the South, East etc. It's amazing to know that travelling from Lucan Dublin on the N4, Edgeworthstown has the first roundabout. In the olden days before the M4, Edgeworthstown Pound Street was the convening centre on Sunday morning driving to Dublin for the popular GAA Games. It's €7.50 for adults and half that for the children to enter and see the building. Make this a place to visit if you're in the...
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