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Monaghan

Coordinates:54°14′52″N06°58′15″W/ 54.24778°N 6.97083°W/54.24778; -6.97083
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Monaghan
Muineachán(Irish)
Town
Monaghan Courthouse
Monaghan Courthouse
Coat of arms of Monaghan
Coat of arms
Monaghan is located in Ireland
Monaghan
Monaghan
Location in Ireland
Coordinates:54°14′52″N06°58′15″W/ 54.24778°N 6.97083°W/54.24778; -6.97083
CountryIreland
ProvinceUlster
CountyCounty Monaghan
BaronyMonaghan
Elevation
71 m (233 ft)
Population
(2022)[1]
•Urban
7,894
Time zoneUTC±0(WET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+1(IST)
Eircoderouting key
H18
Telephone area code+353(0)47
Irish Grid ReferenceH666337

Monaghan(/ˈmɒnəhən/MON-ə-hən;[2]Irish:Muineachán[3][ˈmˠɪnʲəxaːnˠ]) is thecounty townofCounty Monaghan,Ireland.It also provides the name of itscivil parishandMonaghan barony.

The population of the town as of the2022 censuswas 7,894.[1]The town is on theN2 roadfromDublintoDerryandLetterkenny.[4]

Dublin Street, Monaghan

Etymology[edit]

The Irish nameMuineachánderives from a diminutive plural form of the Irish wordmuinemeaning "brake" (a thickly overgrown area) or sometimes "hillock". The Irish historian and writerPatrick Weston Joyceinterpreted this as "a place full of little hills or brakes".[5]Monaghan County Council's preferred interpretation is "land of the little hills", a reference to the numerousdrumlinsin the area.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

The Menapii Celtic tribe are specifically named onPtolemy's 150 AD map of Ireland, where they located their first colony – Menapia – on the Leinster coastc. 216 BC.They later settled around Lough Erne, becoming known as the Fir Manach, and giving their name to Fermanagh and Monaghan.[citation needed]Mongán mac Fiachnai,a 7th-century King of Ulster, is the protagonist of several legends linking him withManannan mac Lir.They spread across Ireland, evolving into historic Irish (also Scottish and Manx) clans.

The northwestern side of St Macartan's Cathedral in Monaghan.

TheBattle of Clontibret,fought between the forces ofThe Earl of Tyrone,An Ó Néill(The O'Neill), ofTír Eoghain,and theEnglish Crown,was fought in northern County Monaghan in May 1595. The territory of Monaghan had earlier been wrested from the control of theMacMahonsept in 1591, when the leader of the MacMahons was hanged by authority of the Dublin government; this was one of the events that led to theNine Years Warand theTudor conquest of Ireland.

In 1801, Monaghan Town, along with the rest of the Rossmore Estate, became the property of the Westenra family.[6]: 460 The Rossmore Estate was inherited in August of that year byWarner Westenra, 2nd Baron Rossmore,from his uncle.[6]: 460 The Westenra family remained as the principal landlords of Monaghan town up into the early twentieth-century. Their 'ancestral seat' was established atRossmore Castle(also known as Rossmore Park), a largecountry housemainly built in stages during the nineteenth-century on the south-western edge of Monaghan Town.[6]: 483 The castle was mainly built in theneo-Jacobeanstyle of architecture.[6]

Rossmore Castle,former seat of the Westenra family,Barons Rossmore.[6]: 482–483 

The castle stood on the south-western edge of Monaghan town and was abandoned just after theSecond World War.[6]: 483 The ruins of the castle were blown up byMonaghan County Councilin 1974.[6]: 483 

Transport[edit]

TheUlster Canalthrough Monaghan linking theRiver BlackwateratMoywith theRiver ErnenearCloneswas built between 1825 and 1842. By the time it was completed, competition in the form of theUlster Railwayfrom Belfast to Clones was already under construction.[7]The canal was never a commercial success and was formally abandoned in 1931.

The Ulster Railway linked Monaghan withArmaghandBelfastin 1858 and with theDundalk and Enniskillen Railwayat Clones in 1863.[7]: Map 8 It became part of theGreat Northern Railwayin 1876.[7]: xiii Thepartition of Irelandin 1922 turned the boundary withCounty Armaghinto an international frontier, after which trains were routinely delayed by customs inspections. In 1957 theGovernment of Northern Irelandmade the GNR Board close the line betweenPortadownandthe border,giving the GNRB no option but to withdraw passenger services between the border and Clones as well.[7]: Map 39 CIÉtook over the remaining section of line between Clones, Monaghan andGlasloughin 1958 but withdrew goods services between Monaghan and Glaslough in 1959 and between Clones and Monaghan in 1960, leaving Monaghan with no railway service.[7]: Map 39 

Twentieth century[edit]

In February 1919 the first self-consciously proclaimedsovietin the United Kingdom was established at Monaghan Lunatic Asylum.[8]This led to the claim byJoseph Devlinin theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdomthat "the only successfully conducted institutions in Ireland are the lunatic asylums".[9]

On 17 May 1974 anUlster loyalistcar bombexploded in the Friday evening rush hour, killing seven people.[10]It was detonated outside Greacen's public house on North Road in a car that had been stolen earlier that afternoon inPortadown,Northern Ireland.The bomb killed Paddy Askin (44), Thomas Campbell (52), Thomas Croarkin (36), Archie Harper (73, died four days later), Jack Travers (28), Peggy White (45) and George Williamson (72).[11]It also injured scores of civilians and caused extensive damage to the fabric of the town with North Road and Mill Street among the areas worst affected. This was one of the few car bombings in the Republic duringThe Troubles,which were centred onNorthern Ireland;three other bombs exploded on the same day in Dublin in what became known as theDublin and Monaghan bombings.The Ulster loyalist paramilitary groupUlster Volunteer Force(UVF) claimed responsibility in 1993.

A monument in memory of the victims was unveiled by the eighthPresident of IrelandMary McAleeseon 17 May 2004, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the atrocity. The sandstone and metal column containing seven light wells bearing the names of each of the seven victims of the bombing was designed by Ciaran O'Cearnaigh and stands as a reminder of one of the darkest days in Ireland's modern history.

Culture[edit]

Monaghan Leisure Complex, built in 2005.

Monaghan continues to host one of Ireland's most prestigious and established blues festivals,[12]theHarvest Time BluesFestival. It is hosted every September across Monaghan town.[13]

The Fiddler of Oriel Muineachán Competition (also known as Féile Oriel) first held in 1969 returned in 2009 to celebrate its fortieth anniversary.[14]It is held every MayBank Holidayweekend.

Founded in 1974, Monaghan County Museum is recognised as one of the leading provincial museums in Ireland, with a prestigiousCouncil of EuropeAward conferred in 1980, among others, to its credit. The museum is located in a mid-Victorian stone building of three stories, formerly two separate town houses, on Hill Street. It aims to acquaint its visitors with the history ofCounty Monaghanand its people.

The Garage Theatre is an arts facility located on the Monaghan Education Campus. It hosts a wide range of activities including drama, music, dance and film.[15]

The town is home toMonaghan United Football Club,formerly of theLeague of Ireland Premier Division.

Local government[edit]

Monaghan Town Hall

Local issues are dealt with by the Monaghan Municipal Council which elects six members, all of which are elected as members of Monaghan County Council. The town forms part of the Monaghan ward for local elections for elections to Monaghan County Council and part of theCavan–Monaghan constituencyfor elections toDáil Éireann.Monaghan Town Hallis a former bank branch dating from around 1880.[16]

The largest party on the municipal council isSinn Féin,which holds two of six seats.Fine GaelandFianna Fáileach hold one seat and there are two independent members.[citation needed]

Town layout and architecture[edit]

The centre of the town is made up of four interconnecting squares: Market Square (or Street), Church Square, The Diamond and Old Cross Square.

St. Patrick'sChurch of Ireland

Dating from the seventeenth century, the oldest remaining architectural feature in Monaghan town is the "Old Cross" – located in Old Cross Square. It is not fully agreed that it is in fact a cross, but may in fact have been a seventeenth-centurysundial.It was originally located in the Diamond, the traditional centre of the town, and was used as a hiring cross and for the attaching of proclamations. It was moved to its present location in 1876 to allow for the construction of the Rossmore Memorial. Two landmark buildings remain from the eighteenth century, Aviemore House (built in 1760) on Mill Street and the "extremely elegant"Market House(from 1792) on Market Square.[17]: 16 

Monaghan is notable for the quality of its nineteenth-century architecture, which adds a sense of dignity to the attractive town centre and its environs. Of its Victorian buildings, theMonaghan Courthouseon Church Square, designed byJoseph Wellandand built in 1830, is the most stately. With its sandstone facade of Doric columns supporting a pediment that bears the royal arms of the House of Hanover, Monaghan Courthouse constitutes an integral part of Church Square.

The Rossmore Memorial in The Diamond was built in 1876 as a memorial toThe 4th Baron Rossmore,who died after a hunting accident atWindsor Castlein 1874. ThisVictorianmonument, described by architectural historian C.E.B. Brett as "formidable and striking"[17]: 10 is octagonal in shape, with central marble columns supporting a fountain. Around it, the eight grey columns support the pinnacled superstructure which rises to a dome. The dome is surmounted by a spire supported by yet more columns. The letters of Rossmore (also eight in number) are spaced out around the monument.

St Macartan's Cathedral

The Gothic-RevivalSt Macartan's CathedralbyJames Joseph McCarthyis recognised as being "one of McCarthy's best works: an excellent example of the High Victorian ecclesiastical style at its best, rich without ever being over-ornate".[17]: 26 The building comprises a delicate rose window and an impressive soaring spire and took over thirty years to complete. Construction work began in 1861 and the cathedral was finally dedicated in 1892. Originally the nave was intended to be two bays longer but lack of funds meant that the design was cut back. The Cathedral sits on an imposing site overlooking the town. Occupying a similarly commanding site on the opposite side of the town isSt Macartan's Collegefor boys (from 1840), a 17-bay classical structure with a bell tower and private chapel, by the Newry-born architectThomas Duff.

Church Square, Monaghan

Church Square is very much an environment in which the civic pride of Victorian improvers lives on in the satisfying essay in the Ruskinian-Gothic style that is the Bank of Ireland building, as much as in the peaks of St. Patrick'sChurch of Irelandand the Dawson Obelisk. One of the most interesting aspects of Monaghan's Victorian architectural heritage, which also includes the former railway station, the Orange Hall on North Road and the Westenra Hotel on the Diamond, is the rounded corners that connect the town's buildings from one street or square to the next. This practice of rounding corners in order to open up panoramic vistas was carried out with unprecedented frequency in the town of Monaghan, and is still reflected today in the edifices of The Diamond, Church Square and Mill Street, helping to secure Monaghan's status as one of Ulster's more attractive large towns.

Economy[edit]

The town is a centre for the timber-frame house building industry withKingspanCentury being the largest of its kind in Europe. It is also the centre of a thriving agri business most notable of which is the mushroom industry. Engineering also features in the region with both Moffett[18]and Combilift[19]major participants in thematerials handlingmarket.[20]

There is a campaign to boost tourism by reopening theUlster Canalin a scheme which would eventually allow boats to travel from towns inNorthern Ireland,such asNewry,by way of Monaghan to places as far south asLimerick,as well asDublin.

Monaghan once had a thriving furniture manufacturing industry. Since 1990, this has diminished greatly under global competition. However, manufacturers such as Rossmore Furniture (which took its name fromRossmore Forest Park,situated just outside the town) continue to operate from the town.

Transport[edit]

Public transport operatorBus Éireannroutes32(Dublin/Letterkenny),[21]65(Galway/Athlone/Monaghan),[22]162(Monaghan/Dundalk),[23]175(Monaghan/Cootehill/Cavan),[24]182(Drogheda/Collon/Ardee/Monaghan)[25]all service the town.

TFI Local Linkservices the town via the following routes:

Notable people[edit]

See also:Category:People from Monaghan (town)

Sister city[edit]

Monaghan is twinned withMiramichi, New Brunswick.[citation needed]

Gallery[edit]

  • Entrance detail of Masonic Hall, 1989
    Entrance detail of Masonic Hall, 1989
  • Glaslough Street, 1989, looking west
    Glaslough Street, 1989, looking west
  • Glaslough Street, 1989, looking east
    Glaslough Street, 1989, looking east
  • Orange Hall, North Road, 1989
    Orange Hall, North Road, 1989
  • Monaghan railway station
    Monaghan railway station

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Interactive Data Visualisations: Towns: Monaghan".Census 2022.Central Statistics Office.Retrieved26 September2023.
  2. ^"Monaghan definition and meaning".Collins English Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 10 March 2021.Retrieved4 January2020.
  3. ^"Muineachán/Monaghan".Placenames Database of Ireland(logainm.ie).Retrieved13 March2023.
  4. ^Monaghan Health Status Report
  5. ^Joyce, Patrick Weston(1870),Irish Local Names Explained.
  6. ^abcdefgMulligan, Kevin V. (2013).The Buildings of Ireland:South Ulster.London:Yale.
  7. ^abcdeHajducki, S. Maxwell (1974).A Railway Atlas of Ireland.Newton Abbot:David & Charles.map 9.ISBN0-7153-5167-2.
  8. ^Kostick, Conor (1996).Revolution in Ireland: Popular Militancy, 1917–1923.London:Pluto Press.p.70.ISBN9780745311234.
  9. ^HansardArchived11 July 2009 at theWayback Machine,20 February 1919, accessed 18 July 2010
  10. ^"Justice for the Forgotten".www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org.Archivedfrom the original on 10 May 2017.Retrieved1 December2016.
  11. ^"CAIN:Sutton Index of Deaths 1974".CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet).Archivedfrom the original on 26 February 2019.Retrieved14 August2020.
  12. ^Monaghan Post, 6 September 2007. "Who's Behind the Blues?Archived12 July 2009 at theWayback Machine"
  13. ^"www.HarvestBlues.ie".Archivedfrom the original on 4 August 2009.Retrieved8 September2009.
  14. ^Fiddler of Oriel Muineachán CompetitionArchived10 July 2011 at theWayback Machine
  15. ^"The Garage Theatre".The Garage Theatre.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2020.Retrieved4 July2020.
  16. ^"Monaghan Town Hall, 1 Dublin Street, Roosky, Monaghan, County Monaghan".National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.Retrieved7 December2023.
  17. ^abcBrett, C.E.B. (1970).Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings and Areas of Architectural Importance in the Town of Monaghan.Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.
  18. ^"Maurice Moffett Ltd".Archivedfrom the original on 29 September 2010.Retrieved5 October2010.
  19. ^Combilift Inc.Archived25 October 2012 at theWayback Machine
  20. ^"Combilift 2. Background".Enterprise Ireland. 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 10 July 2011.Retrieved5 October2010.
  21. ^"32-1669936108.pdf"(PDF).Bus Éireann.Retrieved25 August2023.
  22. ^"3445.pdf"(PDF).Bus Éireann.Retrieved25 August2023.
  23. ^"875.pdf"(PDF).Bus Éireann.Retrieved25 August2023.
  24. ^"3032.pdf"(PDF).Bus Éireann.Retrieved25 August2023.
  25. ^"2122.pdf"(PDF).Bus Éireann.Retrieved25 August2023.
  26. ^"M1-Timetable-August-2023-web.pdf"(PDF).Local Link Cavan-Monaghan.Retrieved25 August2023.
  27. ^"M2-Timetable-August-2023-web.pdf"(PDF).Local Link Cavan-Monaghan.Retrieved25 August2023.
  28. ^"M3-Timetable-August-2023-web.pdf"(PDF).Local Link Cavan-Monaghan.Retrieved25 August2023.
  29. ^"176-Timetable-June-22-web.pdf"(PDF).Local Link Cavan-Monaghan.Retrieved25 August2023.
  30. ^"Birthplace of Charles Gavin Duffy, Dublin Street, ROOSKY, Monaghan, MONAGHAN".Buildings of Ireland.Archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2021.Retrieved10 June2021.
  31. ^Brett, C.E.B. "Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings and Areas of Architectural Importance in the Town of Monaghan". Belfast, Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1973, p. 28.
  32. ^Mennell, Philip(1892)."Swan, Nathaniel Walter".The Dictionary of Australasian Biography– viaWikisource.
  33. ^"Ulster Medical Society: William Whitla".Archivedfrom the original on 11 May 2021.Retrieved11 June2021.
  34. ^Baker, Audrey (2009)."Williams, Alexander".Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press.Archivedfrom the original on 28 January 2021.Retrieved11 June2021.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMonaghan.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide forMonaghan.
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