Meet the
Edgeworths

The Family

... the Edgeworths

… Literary Legends

… Inventive Intellects

… Enlightened Educationalists

The Edgeworths are one of the most remarkable families to have lived in any town in the 18th, 19th and early twentieth Centuries.

Following, you will find some family biographies of key members of the Edgeworth family. Read about forgotten inventions, new ideas of education and decapitated kings.

Connections

... to the worlds of Science, Education & Literature

The Edgeworths cultivated connections to the worlds of Science, Education and Literature. Which in turn brought them into contact with many notable minds of their time.

In these separate sections you can get an overview of some of those people who the Edgeworths got to know. And uncover who had links with the town itself if not with the immediate family.

Also really interesting, is the section on Education. It goes into some details on the Edgeworth’s role in early education in Ireland and the establishment of our national education system. Finally, unearth their surprising links to scientific minds.

In some places there are links provided to more in depth information if you wish to learn more.

The Family

Connections

Science

Education

The Visitor Centre

... the Edgeworths kept alive in Edgeworthstown

We recommend a visit to our Maria Edgeworth Centre to meet the Edgeworths ‘in person’.

The Centre, of course, pays homage to the celebrated 18th century novelist Maria Edgeworth. She was a notable literary pioneer, a feminist and social commentator of her time. But it also lets you get to know other members of this progressive thinking family. Housed in one of the oldest national school buildings in the Country, it also explores where the story of Ireland’s national school system began.

The Maria Edgeworth Visitor Centre in Edgeworthstown, County Longford, is in one of Ireland’s best kept literary secrets, right in the heart of a small rural community in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands.

Visitors can enhance their experience by taking Edgeworthstown’s Heritage & Literary Walk which is a guided walking tour through the town’s past. Explore the area’s connections with historical figures such as Oliver Goldsmith and Oscar Wilde.