Elizabeth Pakenham, 1st Countess Of Longford

Elizabeth Pakenham, 1st Countess of Longford (born Elizabeth Cuffe; 26 July 1719 – 27 January 1794), was an Irish noblewoman. She was the only child and heiress of Michael Cuffe, a Member of Parliament, and his wife, Frances Sandford. Frances Sandford was a descendant of George FitzGerald, the 16th Earl of Kildare.

On 5 March 1740, Elizabeth married Thomas Pakenham, who at that time held the title of Baron Longford. The marriage produced several children, including Edward Michael Pakenham, who became the 2nd Baron Longford, and was born in 1743. Edward married Catherine Rowley and had children, among whom were Frances, the 2nd Earl of Longford, and Robert Pakenham, an Irish Parliament MP who died in 1775.

Other children of Elizabeth and Thomas Pakenham included Helena (1745–1777), who married William Sherlock; Mary (1749–1775), who married Thomas Fortescue; William Pakenham (born 1756), who died in childhood; and Admiral Sir Thomas Pakenham (1757–1836), who married Louisa Staples.

In 1756, the barony of Longford, previously held by Elizabeth's great-great-uncles Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford, and Ambrose Aungier, 2nd Earl of Longford, was revived when her husband Thomas Pakenham was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Longford. In 1785, the earldom of Longford was revived, and Elizabeth was granted the title of Countess of Longford in her own right.

The family estate included Pakenham Hall in County Westmeath and Longford Castle in County Longford, the latter of which was demolished in 1972.

William Pakenham, the eldest son of Elizabeth, inherited her husband's title after his death in April 1766 at the age of 52. Thomas Pakenham, her grandson, inherited the earldom after Elizabeth's death in 1794, as her eldest son Edward had predeceased her. Elizabeth died at the age of 74; her grandson succeeded her as the 2nd Earl of Longford.