County Monaghan is located in The Republic Of Ireland and shares a border with 5 other Counties, Armagh, Fermanagh, Louth, Cavan and Meath. The County name comes from the Irish / Gaelic name Muineachan which means ''The Place Of The Little Thicketed Hill''. The remains of many of the wild animals that used to roam Ireland in bygone days have been discovered in Monaghan. Bones from the artic fox, the giant Irish Deer and the Wolly Mammoth have been found.
Monaghan was one of the Counties in the North Of Ireland where Planters from Scotland were sent over to take over the good land from the native Irish people during the 17th century. Any of the good land was cleared to make way for the growing of Flax and raising of Sheep to be exported back to Britain.
Monaghan is a heaven for fishing having some of the finest lakes. Employment in Monaghan up until the late 1990's mostly came from wood working / cabinet making. With the influx of British and other chain stores into Ireland the trades soon disappeared because these stores were importing furniture on a large scale from China in bulk, so the local tradesmen could not compete and most went out of business. Monaghan is now seen as a commuter county where there is a grand exodus each morning out of the county to work in Dublin. The county has been largely ignored by successive governments over the years in relation to inward investment to the area.
Ring Fort
There are a rake of Bronze age and prehistoric sites around the county such as Tullyrain Ring Fort at Shantonagh.
One of the larger towns, Carrickmacross is renowned for lace making. The Lough Muckno Park in Castleblaney has very attractive lakeside and woodlands along with canoeing and horse riding, not forgetting it's most famous singer Big Tom McBride.
Monaghan Town is the County Town and is located Northwest of the county, it's mostle an Agriculture town with a fine Cathedral and impressive courthouse.
The county has a passion for football games including soccer and Gaelic Football and boasts one of the best Regional G.A.A. grounds in the North of the county, which is in Clones.
Some famous people from Monaghan include the poet Patrick Kavanagh who wrote the song On Raglan Road which is about a the daughter of an Irish politician [No Names No Scandal] who he became infatuated with while he was working in Dublin. Luke Kelly from The Dubliners got his hands on the song and recorded it along with the band and it has become a standard at most ballad session ever since. The song was set to the old tune The Dawning Of The Day and the timing was changed. The Dawning Of The Day was in March Timing, it got changed to a Slow Air.