Ballinamuck
Along with Vinegar Hill in Co. Wexford and Bantry Bay in Co. Cork, Ballinamuck just off the L15, 17 km north of Longford, was party to momentous events during the 1798 rebellion. It was here in north-west Co. Longford that General Humberts army, en route from Castlebar to Dublin, was defeated by a much larger English force.
Despite the defeat, many stories of courage and heroism emerged from the battle. None is more touching than that of Gunner Magee. In charge of a canon he stayed till the very end, using pots and pans as shrapnel and mounting his broken weapon on the backs of his two comrades. His efforts were valiant but fruitless. The recoil broke the backs of his friends and he himself was cut down moments later.
Memorials to Gunner Magee and General Blake are erected in the nearby old cemetery at Tubberpatrick, 5km north of Ballinamuck.
Recently the town became famous because of the success of Thomas Flanagans "Year of the French ", an historical novel which was adapted into a widely-acclaimed film. In the early years of independence, in 1928, a memorial to the insurgents was erected in the village. This has since being complemented by a further monument on Shanmullagh Hill, the scene of the fighting, as a mark of respect to all - Irish, French, and English - who fell in the fighting.