| County Monaghan Contae Mhuineacháin
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| Motto: Dúthracht agus Dícheall (Irish) "Diligence and Best Endeavour" |
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| Country | Ireland | ||
| Province | Ulster | ||
| Dáil Éireann | Cavan-Monaghan | ||
| EU Parliament | East | ||
| County seat | Monaghan | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | County Council | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,294 km2 (499.6 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 27th | ||
| Population (2011) | 60,495 | ||
| • Rank | 29th | ||
| Car plates | MN | ||
| Website | www.monaghan.ie | ||
County Monaghan ( /ˈmɒnəhən/; Irish: Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 60,495 according to the 2011 census.
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Monaghan is the fourth smallest of the Republic's 26 counties in area and fourth smallest by population.[1] It is the second smallest of Ulster’s 9 counties in size and smallest in terms of population.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1659 | 9,734 | — |
| 1821 | 174,697 | +1694.7% |
| 1831 | 195,536 | +11.9% |
| 1841 | 200,442 | +2.5% |
| 1851 | 141,823 | −29.2% |
| 1861 | 126,482 | −10.8% |
| 1871 | 114,969 | −9.1% |
| 1881 | 102,748 | −10.6% |
| 1891 | 86,206 | −16.1% |
| 1901 | 74,611 | −13.5% |
| 1911 | 71,455 | −4.2% |
| 1926 | 65,131 | −8.9% |
| 1936 | 61,289 | −5.9% |
| 1946 | 57,215 | −6.6% |
| 1951 | 55,345 | −3.3% |
| 1956 | 52,064 | −5.9% |
| 1961 | 47,088 | −9.6% |
| 1966 | 45,732 | −2.9% |
| 1971 | 46,242 | +1.1% |
| 1979 | 50,376 | +8.9% |
| 1981 | 51,192 | +1.6% |
| 1986 | 52,379 | +2.3% |
| 1991 | 51,293 | −2.1% |
| 1996 | 51,313 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 52,593 | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 55,997 | +6.5% |
| 2011 | 60,495 | +8.0% |
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There are several mountains in the county: Mullyash Mountain, Slieve Beagh (on the border with Tyrone and Fermanagh) and Coolberrin Hill (214 m, 702 ft). Lakes include Lough Egish, Lough Fea, Muckno Lough, Lough Avaghon, Inner Lough (in Dartrey Forest), Drumlona Lough, White Lough and Emy Lough. Rivers in Monaghan include the River Fane along the Louth border, the River Glyde along the Louth and Meath borders, the River Blackwater along the border with County Tyrone, and Dromore River along the border of County Cavan, linking Cootehill to Ballybay.
Monaghan has a number of forests, including Rossmore Forest, Dartrey Forest and Dún na Rí Forest Park. 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 between County Monaghan and 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 each of the McMahon chiefs. A commission was established to accomplish this and County Monaghan came into being. The County was subdivided into the five baronies that exist today: Farney, Cremorne, Dartrey, Monaghan, and Truagh, which was left under the control of the McKenna chieftains.
After the defeat of the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, The O'Neill 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 plantation of the county took place with Scottish and English families.
| Party | Seats | Change |
| Sinn Féin | 7 | = |
| Fine Gael | 6 | - 1 |
| Fianna Fáil | 5 | = |
| Independent | 2 | +1 |
Monaghan is governed locally by the twenty-member Monaghan County Council which consists of four wards: Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Monaghan. The county forms part of the five seat Cavan-Monaghan Constituency in Dáil Éireann. [4] The towns of Ballybay, Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Monaghan are represented by nine-member town councils [5] which deal with local matters such as the provision of utilities and housing.
Politically the county is considered a stronghold for Sinn Féin (left wing), who are the largest party in the county, followed by Fine Gael (centre-right).
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 has produced several successful artists. Chief among these is George Collie (1904–75), who was born in Carrickmacross and trained at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. He was a prolific exhibitor at the Royal Hibernian Academy throughout his lifetime and is represented by works in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland and the Ulster Museum.
Monaghan was also the home county of the Irish writer Sir Shane Leslie (1885–1971), 3rd Baronet of Glaslough, who lived at Castle Leslie in the north of the county. A Catholic convert, Irish nationalist and first cousin of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, Leslie became an important literary figure in the early 1900s. He was a close friend of many politicians and writers of the day including the American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), who dedicated his second novel, The Beautiful and Damned, to Leslie.
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 Co. 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 Roman Catholic Church, Carrickmacross, which houses a set of stained glass windows by the Irish artist Harry Clarke (1889–1931); the Gothic-Revival St. Patrick's Church of Ireland, Monaghan town; and the impressive St. Macartan's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Monaghan town, by J.J. McCarthy (1817–1882).
County Monaghan is twinned with the following places:
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