County Monaghan is the fifth smallest of the Republic's 26 counties by area, and the fourth smallest by population.[4] It is the smallest of Ulster's nine counties in terms of population.
Monaghan has a number of forests, including Rossmore Forest and Dartrey Forest. Managed by Coillte since 1988, the majority of trees are conifers. Due to a long history of intensive farming and recent intensive forestry practices, only small pockets of native woodland remain.
The Finn Bridge is a border crossing point over the River Finn to County Fermanagh. It is close to Scotshouse.
In 1585, the English Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir John Perrot, visited the area and met the Irish chieftains. They requested that Ulster be divided into counties and land in the kingdom of Airgíalla be apportioned to the local chiefs. A commission was established to accomplish this and County Monaghan came into being. The county was subdivided into five baronies: Farney, Cremorne, Dartrey, and Monaghan controlled by MacMahon and Truagh by McKenna.
After the defeat of the rebellion of The Earl of Tyrone and the Ulster chieftains in 1603, the county was not planted like the other counties of Ulster. The lands were instead left in the hands of the native chieftains. In the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the McMahons and their allies joined the general rebellion of Irish Catholics. Following their defeat, some colonisation of the county took place by Scottish and English families.
The Ulster Railway linked Monaghan with Armagh and Belfast in 1858 and with the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway at Clones in 1863.[8]: Map 8 It became part of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) in 1876.[8]: xiii The partition of Ireland in 1922 turned the boundary with County Armagh into an international frontier, after which trains were routinely delayed by customs inspections. In 1957, the Government of Northern Ireland made the GNR Board close the line between Portadown and Armagh, and all lines between Armagh and County Monaghan. This left the GNR Board with no option but to withdraw passenger services between Armagh and Clones as well.[8]: Map 39 CIÉ took over the remaining section of line between Clones, Monaghan and Glaslough in 1958, but withdrew goods services between Monaghan and Glaslough in 1959 and between Clones and Monaghan in 1960, leaving Monaghan with no railway service.[8]: Map 39
Governance and politics
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The towns of Ballybay, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Monaghan were formerly represented by nine-member town councils which dealt with local matters such as the provision of utilities and housing.[10] These were abolished in 2014 under the Local Government Reform Act 2014.
County Monaghan is the birthplace of the poet and writer Patrick Kavanagh, who based much of his work in the county. Kavanagh is one of the most significant figures in 20th-century Irish poetry. The poems "Stony Grey Soil" and "Shancoduff" refer to the county.
Monaghan County Museum is recognised as one of the leading provincial museums in Ireland, with a Council of Europe Award (1980), among others, to its credit. Located in Hill Street, Monaghan Town, the museum aims to reflect the history of County Monaghan and its people in all its richness and diversity.
The best of the county's architecture developed in the Georgian and Victorian periods and ranges from the dignified public spaces of Church Square and The Diamond in Monaghan Town to the great country houses of Lough Fea, Carrickmacross; Hilton Park, Clones and Castle Leslie, Glaslough.
Significant ecclesiastical buildings include St Joseph's Catholic Church in Carrickmacross; the Gothic-Revival St Patrick's Church of Ireland Church, Monaghan Town, and St Macartan's Catholic Cathedral, Monaghan Town, by James Joseph McCarthy (1817–1882).
Economy
Agriculture is a significant part of the County Monaghan economy, employing about 12% of the population in 2011 (compared with 5% nationally).[14] The county is the main source of egg supplies in the Republic of Ireland.[15]
James Cecil Parke (1881–1946), Tennis and rugby player. Olympic silver medalist in tennis, twice winner of the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title and Australian Men's Singles title winner. Captain of the Irish rugby team
^County of Monaghan Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2018 (S.I. No. 629 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 11 September 2020.
^European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Act 2019, s. 7: Substitution of Third Schedule to Principal Act (No. 7 of 2019, s. 7). Enacted on 12 March 2019. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 December 2021.
^"Life". Patrick Kavanagh 1904 – 1967. Patrick Kavanagh Trust, Trinity College Dublin. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 10 November 2009.