View source for Forgney

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{{Use Irish English|date=March 2021}}
[[File:St Munis church, Forgney.jpg|upright|thumb|Church of St. Munis]]
'''Forgney''' ({{irish place name|Forgnaí}}) is a [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]] and [[townland]] in [[County Longford]], Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/1673.aspx | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | title = Forgnaí / Forgney | accessdate = 7 August 2021 }}</ref> Evidence of ancient settlement in the area include a number of [[ringfort]] and [[holy well]] sites in Forgney townland.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Archaeology-RMP-Longford-Manual-(1996)-0030.pdf | publisher = National Monuments and Historic Properties Service | date = 1996 | title = Record of Monuments and Places as Established Under Section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, County Longford| place = Dublin }}</ref> The townland, which has an area of approximately {{convert|3.1|km2|mi2}},<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.townlands.ie/longford/shrule/forgney/forgney/forgney/ | website = townlands.ie | title = Forgney Townland, Co. Longford | accessdate = 21 August 2024 }}</ref> had a population of 77 people as of the [[2011 census of Ireland|2011 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://data.gov.ie/dataset/cd162-longford-population-by-private-households-occupied-and-vacancy-rate | website = data.gov.ie | publisher = Central Statistics Office | title = CD162 - Longford Population by Private Households, Occupied and Vacancy Rate | accessdate = 21 August 2024 | quote = Population [..] Townlands [..] Forgney, Forgney, Co. Longford: 77 }}</ref>
Forgney is associated with the poet [[Oliver Goldsmith]], and the local [[Church of Ireland]] church, the Church of St. Munis, is where the Rev. Charles Goldsmith, father of the poet, administered from 1718 to 1730. The present church was built in 1810 and replaced that of Goldsmith's day.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/13402721/st-munis-church-of-ireland-church-forgney-longford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = St. Munis Church Of Ireland Church, Forgney, Longford | date = | accessdate = 7 August 2021 }}</ref> It is located on the [[R392 road (Ireland)|R392]] [[Regional road (Ireland)|regional road]]. The church contains a stained glass window with a brass plaque erected in 1897 and inscribed:
{{quote|To the glory of God and in Memory of Oliver Goldsmith, Poet, Novelist, playwright, born in this parish, of which his father was for twelve years Curate. This window is erected by lovers of the man and his genious [sic].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.archiseek.com/2013/1810-st-munis-church-forgney-co-longford/ | publisher = Archiseek | work = Architecture of Longford | title = 1810 – St. Munis Church of Ireland, Forgney, Co. Longford | accessdate = 7 August 2021 | date = 2013 }}</ref> }}
[[File:IMG R392road1726.jpg|thumb|Approaching the church - on the R392 under the ''Hill of Forgney'']]
The local [[Roman Catholic]] church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was built {{circa|1830}}.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/13402726/church-of-the-immaculate-conception-forgney-longford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Church of the Immaculate Conception Forgney, Longford | date = | accessdate = 7 August 2021 }}</ref>
[[John Henry Patterson (author)|John Henry Patterson]] was born in Forgney in 1867.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/israel-honours-lion-hunter-of-zion-67-years-after-death-30797408.html| publisher = Independent News & Media | website = independent.ie | title = Israel honours 'Lion Hunter of Zion' 67 years after death | date = 3 December 2014 | accessdate = 7 August 2021 }}</ref> He was an Anglo-Irish soldier, hunter, Zionist and author known for his book ''[[The Man-eaters of Tsavo]]'' (1907), which details his experiences while building a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in Kenya in 1898-99. In the 1996 film ''[[The Ghost and the Darkness]]'', he was portrayed by actor [[Val Kilmer]]. In the First World War, Patterson was the commander of the [[Jewish Legion]].
==References==
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[[Category:Civil parishes of County Longford]]
[[Category:Townlands of County Longford]]
[[Category:Church of Ireland parishes in the Republic of Ireland]]
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