|
| |
|
MONAGHAN TOWN |
| |
|
|
| |
You're most likely to find yourself in MONAGHAN town while on your
way to somewhere else, but the actual fabric of the place is quite
interesting as you pass through. Monaghan town epitomizes what makes
this county very definitely Ulster and yet quite distinct from Cavan.
The planning of seventeenth-century settlers, the prosperity of the
eighteenth-century linen industry (largely the achievement of Scots
Presbyterians) and the subsequent wealth and status of the town in the
following century are all very much in evidence.
The Town
Three central squares are linked by a chain of lanes, a layout not, in
fact, altogether typical of plantation towns. At the centre is the
Diamond - the name given to all these Ulster "squares" - in the middle
of which stands a grandiose Victorian drinking fountain, the kind of
memorial strongly reminiscent of any nineteenth-century industrial
British city, yet strangely out of place in rural Ireland. When it was
placed here, the earlier seventeenth-century Scottish settlers' cross,
with its multifaceted sundial, was shifted a short distance along Dublin
Street to Old Cross Square, where it still stands.
Alongside the Diamond is Church Square . Here a classical courthouse, a
solid Victorian bank and hotel and a very pretty Regency Gothic church,
large and spacious, stand together, conferring a strong sense of civic
dignity. The town's former importance as a British garrison town is
quite clear, and a large obelisk commemorates a colonel killed in the
Crimean War. Everything about the place suggests a conscious attempt at
permanency, buildings placed with a view to posterity; even the rounded
corners of the most mundane buildings and their boldly arched entries -
both features unique to Monaghan - suggest strength and pride.
Beyond Church Square, at the top of Market Street, is a pretty, arched
Market House built in 1792, a solid, graceful building of well-cut
limestone, with finely detailed decoration of carved oak leaves and oak
apples. In the opposite direction, Dublin Street leads down to Old Cross
Square . At number ten stands the birthplace of Monaghan's most famous
son, Charles Gavan Duffy - a Nationalist who was instrumental in the
founding of the Irish Tenant League. He was also the co-founder, along
with Thomas Davis, of The Nation , a paper which was to disseminate
politically sensitive ideas. Beyond, high on a hill out of town, St
Macartan's Catholic Cathedral commands views over the whole town and
surrounding countryside. Completed in 1892, it's a Gothic Revival
building of hard grey sandstone, with a tall spire and a spacious
interior, complete with an impressive hammer-beam roof. As you stand on
the steps looking out over the surrounding land you get a real feeling
of its era - it's a most successful nineteenth-century statement of
religious liberation and pride.
As well as being a busy commercial and administrative centre, Monaghan
looks after the county's vigorous and sometimes violent history at the
Monaghan County Museum on Hill Street (Tues-Sat 10am-1pm & 2-5pm; free).
This fine building houses a permanent collection of archeological
material, prehistoric antiquities, examples of traditional local crafts,
domestic utensils and paintings, prints and watercolours from the late
eighteenth century to the present day. The museum's most prized artefact
is the Cross of Clogher , a processional cross dating from around 1400.
Contemporary art exhibitions are also held here. The heritage centre ,
Broad Rd (Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri 10am-noon & 2-4pm, Sat & Sun
2.30-4.30pm; £1/¬1.27), tells the story of the religious order of St
Louis, with an intelligent display meticulously put together by one of
the sisters; you're guided through it with a cassette recording.
|
| |
|
