Our
Day trip to Longford Cathedral – June 2018
Our
lovely warm sunny weather seemed to have come to an end as 50 of our
members boarded the bus on June 13th
and headed for Belvedere House and Longford Cathedral. After an
hour’s drive we arrived at the home of “that Wicked Earl” the
first Earl of Belvedere, Robert Rochford. The house was built in 1740
as a hunting lodge. Robert gained notoriety for imprisoning his
second wife , Mary Molesworth ,for 31 years on a spurious charge of
infidelity. This magical estate is now owned by Westmeath Co.
Council.
The
clouds parted and the rain stayed away while we spent some time
exploring the old house and lovely gardens. After a welcome
tea/coffee break we continued on our journey to Longford.
The
beautiful St. Mel’s Cathedral is well worth a visit. It was
completely destroyed by fire on Dec 25th
2009. Some of the country’s most priceless artefacts were burned to
cinders. One remarkable painting of the Holy Family survived. It was
restored at a cost of 30 million and attracts thousands of visitors.
After
all this sight seeing, we were ready to enjoy a lovely dinner in the
Longford Arms Hotel. For some, I believe the boutiques along the way
were too tempting to pass.!!
We
arrived home safely having enjoyed another day’s outing in our
lovely country. Looking forward to the next one in July P.G.
Chris O’Flynn
(P.R.O.) June 2018
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