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ELPHIN |
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| The trim village of ELPHIN , about four miles northwest of
Strokestown, has been the seat of a bishopric for 1500 years, ever since
St Patrick founded a church on this spot. The cathedral , rather
unconvincingly restored in part in 1982, contains the tombs both of
early bishops and of members of the Goldsmith family - Oliver's
birthplace is disputed between here and Pallas in County Longford, which
has been doing its best to cash in on the Goldsmith connection . Even
his famous poem The Deserted Village may describe County Roscommon
rather than County Longford (and the English claim it's about the
English enclosures); at any rate, he went to school here. |
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