County Monaghan
County Monaghan ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is 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 was 61,386 according to the 2016 census. The county has existed since 1585, when the Mac Mathghamhna rulers of Airgíalla agreed to join the Kingdom of Ireland. Following the 20th-century Irish War of Independence and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Monaghan was one of three Ulster counties to join the Irish  Free State rather than Northern Ireland. Geography and subdivisions. County Monaghan is the fifth smallest of the Republic's 26 counties by area, and fourth smallest by population. It is the smallest of Ulster's nine counties in terms of population. Largest Towns in County Monaghan (2016 Census). 1. Monaghan = 7,678 2. Carrickmacross = 5,032 3. Castleblayney = 3,607 4. Clones = 1,680 5. Ballybay = 1,241 Geography. Notable mountains include Slieve Beagh (on the Tyrone and Fermanagh borders), Mullyash Mountain and Coolberrin Hill (214 m, 702 ft). Lakes include Lough Avaghon, Dromore Lough, Drumlona Lough, Lough Egish, Emy  Lough, Lough Fea, Inner Lough (in Dartrey Forest), Muckno Lough and White Lough. Notable rivers include the River Fane (along the Louth border), the River Glyde (along the Louth and Meath borders), the Ulster Blackwater (along the Tyrone border) and the Dromore River (along the Cavan border, linking Cootehill to Ballybay). 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. Geology. Lead used to be mined in County Monaghan. Mines included Annaglogh Lead Mines and Lisdrumgormley Lead Mines. History. 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 with Scottish and English families. Inland waterways. County Monaghan is traversed by the derelict Ulster Canal. However, Waterways Ireland are embarking on a scheme to reopen the  canal from Lough Erne into Clones. Railways. The Ulster Railway linked with and Belfast in 1858 and with the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway at in 1863. It became part of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) in 1876. 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 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. 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. Local government and politics. County Monaghan is divided into three local electoral areas, each of which also forms a municipal district: Ballybay–Clones, Carrickmacross–Castleblayney, and Monaghan. 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. These were abolished in 2014 under the Local Government Reform Act 2014. For elections to Dáil Éireann, the county is part of the constituency of Cavan–Monaghan which elects five TDs. In the 2011 general election, there was a voter turnout of 72.7%. For elections to the European Parliament, the county is part of the Midlands–North-West constituency. Politically, the county's single largest political party is Sinn Féin (centre-left), followed by Fine Gael (centre-right). Culture and architecture. 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. 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. County 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-east corner of the county. A Catholic convert, Irish nationalist and first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 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 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 J. J. 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). The county is the main source of egg supplies in the Republic of Ireland. Twin cities. County Monaghan is twinned with the following places: