History writing 2025Winners

Monaghan County Council Office of Cathaoirleach Monaghan County Libraries

History Writing Competition

2025 WINNERS

INTRODUCTION

The History Writing competition was inaugurated by Cathaoirleach Aidan Campbell in 2021/22 under the Decade of Centenaries Programme with the aim of encouraging young people to explore and learn about Monaghan’s history during the period 1913-1923.

For 2025, we asked all 6th class primary school and secondary school students attending a school in county Monaghan, who have an interest in history, to research and write about one of the topics listed below in the context of county Monaghan. This competition intends to compliment the history curriculum at both primary and secondary levels; to encourage young people to develop independent study skills; and to recognise the talents of aspiring history students. The competition is entirely optional and is not intended to place any additional burden on schools, teachers, or students.

Topics Primary School • Time Traveller: I am a child living in county Monaghan in the 1940s.

• A history of my townland.

• A history of an old building, ruin, or graveyard in county Monaghan.

Secondary School • Revolution in Ireland 1912-1923 – a political/revolutionary event in county Monaghan • The Emergency Years 1939 – 1945 in county Monaghan.

• A history of my townland.

• A history of an old building, ruin, or graveyard in county Monaghan.

Primary school competition winners 1st prize: Elsa Burns, Killeevan N.S.

2nd prize: Leah Rice, Scoil Mhuire, Magherarney 3rd prize (joint): Lauren McIntyre, St Joseph’s N.S., Knockatallon 3rd prize (joint): Sarah Jane Brady, Scoil Mhuire, Rockcorry An Cathaoirleach perpetual trophy and €200 to one primary school for the range and quality of entries received: Gaeilscoil Ultain, Muineachán.

Secondary school competition winners 1st prize: Jack Mackarel, Monaghan Collegiate School 2nd prize: Emma Hannon, Largy College 3rd prize: Toms Mihailovs, Monaghan Collegiate School An Cathaoirleach perpetual trophy and €200 to one secondary school for the range and quality of entries received: Monaghan Collegiate School.

A history of my townland

by Elsa Burns I live in a townland called Lurganboy (An Lorgain Bhuí, which means “a yellow hill”), which borders the townlands of Briscarnagh, Derrins, Drumreenagh, Lisareake and Tullynample. Lurganboy belongs to the Barony of Dartee and the Parish of Currin. It was in the District Electrical Division of Killyneagh and the Poor Law Union of Cootehill in 1911. There are nine houses in my townland at present, which houses six different families. My family, the Burns’, have lived in Lurganboy for over 100 years, and during that time, four generations have been born and raised here. Some, including my mam and my uncle, have raised their families here. The Burns’ have now three houses and a farm in Lurganboy. Other families in Lurganboy include the Hall’s, the McCaul’s, the Shannon’s, the Crudden’s and the Moore’s. Only the Mc Caul family appeared in the 1911 census so there has been lots of changed in the townland over the last 114 years.

In 1911 though, there were nine houses, but one was uninhabited. Forty-four people in total lived in the townland of Lurganboy. There were nine different families; some of them had more than eight people living in their houses. Many of the head of houses worked as farmers, while Matilda Jane Greenlee worked as a school teacher and Joseph Livingstone, who lived in a “first class” house, worked as a carpenter. There were 23 males and 21 females living in Lurganboy. Only eight people were Roman Catholic, while fourteen were Protestants and ten were Presbyterians. The families who lived in Lurganboy in 1911 were the Lawson’s, the Pritchard’s, the McDill’s, the McCaul’s, the Greenlee’s, the West’s, the McCrackin’s, the McConkey’s and the Livingstone’s. Some families had servants working for them at this time, which would be completely unheard of today.

My family lived in Corragary in 1911 and moved to Lurganboy in the 1920s, they bought the land of John West and his family. They then built their home house and lived on the farm for over half a century. Then in 1975, my granny and granddad built their new house beside the family farm, which has now housed two generations of our family. In 2015, my mam and I moved into the house that we now call home. Then in 2023, my uncle moved into his new house also built beside the family farm. Now there are three generations of our family living side by side in Lurganboy.

Lurganboy’s area is 884,501m2. There are oak, sycamore and horse chestnut trees around my townland. Occasionally, you may spot some wild deer during the night and many of the fields have names such as Flush and Meadow. Lurganboy has a stream which separates Lurganboy from Tullynample. There were many ceilís and dances held at the crossroads in Lurganboy back in my granddad’s day.

There is an old school called Lurganboy N.S. located in the townland. My granddad went to this school when he was younger. He used to have to bring fire wood to school each day to keep the classroom fire lit during the day. They wrote on slate tiles instead of in copybooks.

Close to the school, there is a beautiful ring fort surrounded by many fairy trees. Ring forts are circular settlements that were built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to around the year 1000 AD. There is thought to be around 50,000 ring forts existed during that time. A Fairy Tree is a type of plant found in Irish folklore. It is believed to be sacred to the fairies, and serves as a gateway between this realm and that of the fairies. Fairy trees are treated with utmost respect, as offending them may incur the wrath of the fairies.

Across Ireland, there are 20 other townlands that are named “Lurganboy”, including three in Cavan, four in Donegal, one in Louth, another one in Monaghan, three in Fermanagh, two in Leitrim, one in Meath and five in Tyrone.

Nobody can remember anyone who had a special cure in Lurganboy, but in a neighbouring townland, there was an old lady who had the cure of the sprain. My mam had to go to her when she was younger as she sprained her ankle. The cure involved visiting the lady for three days in a row to say prayers and bathing her ankle in turpentine liquid. The cure worked after the third day.

Lurganboy could have been inhabited for many years, even centuries, before the 20th century, as many of the 19th century censuses were destroyed.

I have thoroughly enjoyed finding out about my townland, Lurganboy and will have a better understanding of the history of my area and a better understanding of my own history as well. I hope you, the reader, enjoyed my project and I am so grateful that you have taken time out of your day to read my project. Thank you so much.

Time travelling with Great Granny Bridie Murphy

by Leah Rice

This is an interview with Bridie Murphy, aged 95. She and her family lived in Threemilehouse during the 1920s and she gave a really interesting interview about life at that time to me, her great granddaughter. It was lovely to have the opportunity to learn about her childhood and life growing up.

My house I grew up outside of Threemilehouse in the townland of Cooldara. I was born in 1929, there were 11 in my family - 5 boys and 4 girls. My mammy died when I was six.

I lived in a two-storey house in a rural area with two bedrooms, a large and a small one, a sitting room and a kitchen. It had no running water, just water from a well. We had no electricity.

We had no bathroom inside or out, just a toilet outside. Food was cooked on the pan on the stove that we kept lit from turf and sticks that we cut and brought in. These stoves were similar stoves to ones that are used nowadays. We only had heat in the kitchen from the stove, the bedroom above it was warm because of it, but my room was at the back of the house, and it was cold. I don't think there were hot water bottles then. We used to take the lid from the stove and wrap it in paper and use it to warm our feet. We were used to the cold and didn't pass any remarks.

The men worked on the farm. We didn't have a big farm, and I went out with them to help as my sister stayed in the house. We had some land that we farmed, we were cutting corn, tying corn,dropping potatoes, and we had flax too. It was a big job.

Women did the housework, made bread, and cooked. My sister worked in a factory, and another left to go nursing. The children all had their jobs to do, bring in sticks in the morning, carry up water from the well. That's when they were small. Once bigger, they went out on farm to help.

My school I went to school at the age of five in Threemilehouse. We walked around the lane from my house. I finished school at 14. It was a two-storey building. We went upstairs when we were going into third class. My teachers’ names were Master Mc Enaney and Mrs. Mc Enaney; she taught the smaller children. Teachers were very strict.

Our desks were old desks that you sat into and lifted the lid. We used pencils for the smaller children, then when we got older, we used nibs that we dipped into ink. We had no heat in the classroom, just an open fire at that time. We didn't wear uniforms. We took our own lunch, which was a bit of bread wrapped in paper with a bottle of milk. In the wintertime we put our bottle of milk beside the fire to warm it.

At breaktime we played mostly tig, or ran around the chapel, because we had no place else to go. The boys played on the road, which was mostly football. My subjects were English, Irish, Maths, Algebra, and History and Geography, which I hated. I also did sewing and knitting. I liked school.

Shops

My local shop was in Threemilehouse about a mile from my house. There was one grocery shop and a grocery shop and pub together. It sold tea, sugar, butter, maybe bacon too, but we didn't need to buy bacon as we killed a pig every year and that did us.

We had no car, just a horse and cart, and we ploughed with the horses and years later had a tractor. We went to mass every Sunday and prayed. The rosary was said every day at 6pm. My sister reared us after my mammy died.

Common food

Breakfast was porridge with bread and butter. Dinner was bacon, sausage, cabbage and potatoes. We grew our own cabbage and turnips in the field. We had our own hens for eggs. We had turkeys but we couldn't keep geese and ducks as we didn't have water close enough to our house. There are big differences from now to then, some for the good and some not. Electricity was the biggest help when it came in. I was married with 3 or 4 children by then.

Conclusion

It was very interesting listening to Granny during her interview. There is a big difference between her life then and my life now. I am glad that we have luxuries like heat and electricity and more food and shops to make life easier than it was then.

A history of my townland

by Lauren McIntyre I am going to tell you the history of the best place in county Monaghan Knockatallon. It’s Irish name is Cnoc an tSalainn which translates to ‘hill of salt’.

Knockatallon is rich in history and I love living here.

1845 to 1852 were the years of the Famine. It all started with a disease in the potatoes called blight. 1847 was the worst year and it is known as ‘Black 47’. There was a lady from Knockatallon called Anne Murphy and she was the first person to notice the blight had arrived in county Monaghan. Her brother, who lived in Wexford, sent her a letter warning her about the blight and when she checked on Gunn’s farm she found it had arrived. She is admirable as she warned everyone else as well. We have a Famine stone in Sheskin to remember her.

On the 20th of August 1943 there was a plane crash beside Mc Aloon’s hill. It was a WWII plane that crashed while the pilot was out checking the atmospheric pressure to inform troops. Luckily the pilot survived the crash. Some people still have parts of the plane today and although it was an unfortunate event it was also a very historic event for Knockatallon because we don’t usually experince anything like this in Monaghan.

Mc Aloon’s shop was the best part of Knockatallon. It had the best ice-cream in the world and was owned by my grandad, also known as John Tom Mc Aloon, who ran the shop for 52 years and his mother ran it before him. He retired in 2024. It is now called Knockatallon Grocery Store.

There is a Penal cross in Bragan in memory of a priest who got shot for saying mass. Nobody knows what his name was for certain but people believe his name was father Mc Kenna and he died while saying mass on Christmas day. Although the year is not known, we know this happened at the time of the Penal Laws when Catholics were not allowed to go to mass. The Mass rock was a very important place for the people of Knockatallon during that time.

Our school opened in 1940. We used to have a Master in our school and there also used to be a fireplace in one of our classrooms. The students had to go outside to collect firewood but the firewood was not just for the fire - it was also used for punishment! Before our school was built there was another school named Barratitoppy but they joined our school in 1994 because their school was too small.

Before this time, there was a hedge school in Black Hill for the Catholics to go to school. It is said to have been a rough hut with stone seats and the school was called Brady’s field, after one of the school’s teachers.

There also used to be a post office in Knockatallon run by the Mc Cauge family.

There was a telephone box outside of it and it was always really busy at the post office. Although it is no longer a post office, its’ features and the old phone box can still be seen.

Sliabh Beagh is a well-loved hotel in Knockatallon it is also a lovely restaurant - no matter what day you decide to go there it will always be very busy. Sliabh Beagh has too changed over the years. It once was a community centre and although it is now a hotel it is still central to our community. During the electricity shortages this year after storm Éowyn, it was a place where people could meet and get a hot meal.

In my opinion Knockatallon is the best place to visit in County Monaghan as it is full of history and adventure.

The Maple Ballroom

by Sarah Jane Brady By the late fifties the social climate was changing rapidly throughout Ireland. The showband craze was started in Northern Ireland by a band called “The Clipper Carlton”. There was a growing number of independent owners who built ballrooms; the Maple Ballroom, Rockcorry was one of them. This building is situated on the Newbliss road out of the village. It was originally a Methodist Church. The church closed in the early 1930s and was bought in 1948 by Mr John McCormick, a local business man.

On Easter Sunday, April 6th 1958, the Maple Ballroom was opened for the first time with Fred Hanna’s Band from Belfast supplying the music. It attracted all the leading bands in Ireland at the time; the Clipper Carlton, the Cadets, the Horslips, Joe Dolan and the Drifters. The Royal Showband with Brendan Bowyer had their first Ulster date in the Maple on 13th September 1959, while Dana came shortly after her Eurovision win in 1970. The Maple Ballroom became part of the social life for the whole community, both locally and for miles around north and south of the border. It was jammed every dance night when buses brought dancers from neighbouring towns, villages and counties. People enjoyed the Maple because it attracted a good mix. Anyone causing a row or a fight was put out by the bouncer.

In 1965 John McCormick became manager of “The Mainliners” and their star singer, Big Tom McBride. In a short period of time, he became famous all over Ireland and England with songs like “Gentle Mother” and “The Old Log Cabin”. The band played in the Maple on many occasions to capacity crowds. In the good years, there were about 450 ballrooms countrywide. The showband craze changed Irish courting habits forever. In rural areas like Rockcorry the ballroom created the opportunity for people to meet away from the local parochial hall and the eyes of a local clergy. Many young people cycled to parish dances in the 1950s but drove or bused to ballrooms miles away in the 60s. Boys and girls could be more secretive at a dance fifty miles from home. A boy from Cavan could meet a girl from Fermanagh in the Maple. If things worked out they might meet again the following week.

My Grandad Jimmy Carroll said: “The building known as the Maple Ballroom was once a church and later a cinema. It was purchased by John McCormick who opened it as a ballroom around 1958. It turned into one of the most famous dance halls in Ireland. Dances were held every Thursday night for over 25 years. All the leading showbands in Ireland played there as well as many English touring groups”.

Sadly ,The Maple closed in 1983 and with its closure ended an era of ballroom dancing all over Ireland that may never come again. Many a match and marriage was made there and those who went to it can look back with fond memories on Rockcorry’s own Ballroom of Romance. The Maple Ballroom was knocked down in 2024.

Stonebridge

by Jack Mackarel At a midpoint between Smithborough village and Clones Town along the N54, the only notable structure to be found is a small white church. However, a look into the past reveals a very different picture. What once stood here was the village of Stonebridge and, although now gone, the village has left an interesting story to tell with its connections to the spread of Protestantism, economic change and social issues.

In the sixteenth century, drawing on the beliefs and teachings of John Knox, John Calvin and Martin Luther, the Church of Scotland seceded from the Church of Rome and the Papacy, establishing itself in a new reformed faith of Presbyterianism.

Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the English administration, now under the leadership of Presbyterian raised King James I, began investigating the possibility of a plantation of the former Gaelic lands in Ulster. In 1609 the Ulster Plantations began, bringing with them English speaking Protestants to the province with a portion of the settlers being Presbyterians.

Although James I considered Presbyterians and Anglicans near enough equal, his successors took an opposite approach as Presbyterians then were subjected to the Penal laws alongside Roman Catholics and given the derogatory name of ‘dissenters’. Fearing persecution, some of the few Presbyterians in Monaghan began congregating outside Clones around the Stonebridge area -- attracted by the fertile Drumlin countryside and the access to the River Finn. Monaghan was one of the few Ulster counties to not have undergone any focused plantation efforts, though there were small attempts to attract Scottish settlers, but following William III’s campaign in Ireland there was a very considerable immigration of settlers from Scotland into County Monaghan, bolstering the small pre-existing Presbyterian congregations. By the turn of the seventeenth century the Presbyterians at the modern day Stonebridge began organising themselves into a proper congregation. In 1700 their first preacher, Patrick Dunlop, was installed and later, on the 7th May 1705, their first official minister, Alexander Flemming.

An important detail to note was that the bridge was not constructed until circa 1820 so the congregation was dubbed Clones or Clownis. Clones (Stonebridge) became one of the earliest Presbyterian congregations established in Monaghan alongside Dartry (Drum), Tullycorbett (Ballybay) and Monaghan. During the early eighteenth century there was no proper church to be found in the area; rather the congregation met in a meeting house and drew their name from the bridge built over the river beside them.

During the eighteenth century Peadar Livingstone stated how Monaghan land ‘became more valuable…It meant people were earning more money….. While efforts of the small farmers ultimately left Monaghan a far richer and more developed place’ (The Monaghan Story). The growing of flax and production of linen was of great importance to the rural economy. There was a particularly strong linen market in Clones which farmers at Stonebridge benefitted from. Since all of their linen purchases were paid in cash it was particularly beneficial for tenant farmers to use to pay their rents with. Flax production was strong in the early settlement of Stonebridge and, later, a flax mill would be established opposite the church.

In 1750 new congregations were being encouraged to form within the Monaghan presbytery, one such being at Newbliss. The Stonebridge congregation objected to their formation as they believed it would damage their own congregational strength. However, after a series of disputes alongside a fellow congregation at Drum, they were ultimately overturned and Newbliss was allowed to remain. This led to several families at Stonebridge deserting to Newbliss. These consequences were short-lived though as the congregation began to grow due to County Monaghan during the mid-1700s being heavily populated with Presbyterians.

In Ireland during the 1790s a group known as the United Irishmen had been pushing for parliamentary reform before changing to Irish independence. Their movement had been spreading across Ireland and had an aim of unifying both Protestants and Catholics against Britain. As the movement spread into Monaghan it had been said that Stonebridge proved useful as a nucleus for Presbyterian or dissenter support with even the congregation's fourth minister, James Whiteside, becoming the representative in the Clones area for the ‘Northern Star’ (the newspaper of the Society of United Irishmen).

However, the initial unity between the two denominations did not last as Presbyterians began to rethink the consequences of accepting Roman Catholics as equals. The divide quickly became irreparable as many atrocities were committed on Protestants.

The 1820s proved to be one of the most significant decades for the development of Stonebridge. It began with the very bridge for which the area gets its name being built across the River Finn. The bridge featured segmental arches with dressed limestone voussoirs and squared stone soffits. Around the same time, a mill was also erected, going on to have a multitude of purposes from spade-making, flax-scutching, cornmilling, and saw-milling industries. It was a site of particular economic and social importance for Stonebridge, providing employment and commerce for the area.

Interestingly, the water wheel had a slight flaw whereby if the river was too high it would not turn and if the river was too low it also would not turn. This meant that the mill was often out of commission during the winter and summer months. During its construction a dispute over the water rights for the mill broke out with the locals, and so the owners resorted to digging the race at night to avoid detection. The thatched meeting house that previously accommodated the congregation was also developed with the construction of a proper church. The church was a t-shape, with a pitched slate roof and pointed arch-windows.

A quarry was also in operation at this time, though no records of its opening or construction can be located. The quarry had a steam roller and stone breaker and would have produced the material to patch the roads around Clones. However, much like the mill, the river also proved an issue for the business as it would burst its bank several times over the quarry’s lifespan with one such incident claiming the lives of several workers and their horses in the late 1880s.

In the late twenties, an all-male Protestant school was opened outside the church for children of all ages. The school had a porch that wrapped around the building and underneath housed a stable. It is also probably around this time that the Roman Catholic National School opened a short distance away from the church and river. In keeping with the sectarian nature of society at the time, it was a custom for Protestants to walk on one side of the road and Catholics on the other.

The Ulster Canal was built between 1825 and 1842 and was 74km long with 26 locks.

It ran from Charlemont on the River Blackwater to Wattle Bridge on the River Finn, south-east of Upper Lough Erne. Residents of Stonebridge would have had access to the canal, and the mill and quarry might have transported their products along it, but it was not very profitable due to various problems with the canal. The canal was beggared with issues such as keeping water at the required level and its locks being too narrow for regular transports to make use of.

With the arrival of the railways in 1858 the canal was abandoned as the less favourable mode of transport. During the construction of the railway the Catholic School needed to relocate as it was on the planned route. The school did not move too far away -- down beside the railway bridge -- and its new premises had two buildings, the main stone building for the older years and what was essentially a tin shack for the younger pupils.

During the famine years, despite the hardships faced by the country's economic state and the decline in the linen industry in Clones, the Stonebridge congregation held strong with around 110 families attending. The congregation also contributed around £25 to the General Assembly and had plans to add on a female school to the existing boys’ school. In 1896, not too far from the church, an Orange Hall was erected to serve the local Orangemen, highlighting the strong presence of Unionism that grew in the area since the 1798 Rebellion.

In the twentieth century the population of Stonebridge had increased with new commerce entering the locality when two shops were set up underneath their owner’s house. One shop was Armstrong’s, owned by Davie Armstrong, which was situated right on the bank of the river and sold all groceries. The shop also boasted a meal store, selling meal, bran and flour with a horse drawn delivery service that doubled in collecting eggs and bacon from local farmers to supply the shop. There was a post office in the shop as well that both received and sorted mail for the area and was delivered by Luke Brady then John Fox. A second mill was also in operation at this time, the previously mentioned being under the ownership of McCluskies and the second being under the ownership of William Armstrong, brother of Davie. Armstrong’s closed down in the forties after Davie died and his widow had no interest in continuing the business. Tragedy would later strike in the early fifties as the house caught fire and, due to Mrs Armstong’s declined mental state, she trapped herself in the back room and ultimately died in the blaze.

A few minutes away, up a hill, a second shop known as McCluskies stood, although it did not boast as grand a supply of groceries like Armstrong’s. It did keep good quality stationary compared to their rival, who sold wartime books made from sawdust which were prone to falling apart. During the good frosts, children of the area would carry buckets of water up the hill to spill down it so that they could go sleighing.

The well for the local area still stands today, though many villagers had a superstition towards it believing that it pumped water through the church’s graveyard.

Workers of the mill made up the bulk of the village’s population and when William Armstrong moved away their mill closed. The McCluskies soon followed suit, leading to a serious drop in the village’s population as more and more moved away to find new employment. The rows of houses that stood along the river began to decline and the last villager, Jimmy Greenen, left in 1957. In 1958 the Protestant school by the church closed down but the Roman Catholic school remained and abandoned its second location, moving to a more modern premises along the N54 at the end of the twentieth century. The church itself also suffered a decline with the establishment of a Presbyterian church in Clones and Smithborough.

Many families left the congregation and in the early 1900s the church lost its tshape and was replaced with an l-plan building, putting in a hall used for Sunday school in the tail of the church. The railroad in Monaghan closed down in 1957 but remains of railway bridges can still be found dotting the landscape. For a short period, a skittle team was active at Stonebridge Church and used pins from the railway line for their games. On 11 March 1974, only a short distance from Stonebridge, Fine Gael TD Billy Fox was assassinated by the Provisional IRA. Whilst the village of Stonebridge underwent a sharp decline as a consequence of the mill’s closure the settlement has left a mark in history with its connection to the spread of Presbyterianism and activity during national events like the 1798 Rebellion. The village can also be a testament to the impact and spinoff effect of a key industry’s closure as seen throughout history like in Clones with the end of the railways. Even though the village is no more, many of its structures still remain such as the well, the old mill, several of the railway bridges and -- most iconically -- the bridge for which it gets its name and the church that is still an active congregation today.

Bibliography

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Mackarel, A (2025) interview with local resident, Alan Mackarel, by Jack Mackarel, 21 February 2025, Monaghan.

Mackarel, G (2025) interview with local resident, Gerald Mackarel, by Jack Mackarel, 22 February 2025, Monaghan.

Mackarel, E (2025) interview with local resident, Eric Mackarel, by Jack Mackarel, 22 February 2025, Monaghan.

Home rule and Monaghan Protestants (1912-1923)

by Emma Hannon The subject of Home Rule was a big issue in Ireland in the early 1900s, especially for Protestants in county Monaghan. Nationalists wanted Ireland to govern itself, while Unionists wanted to stay part of Britain. This left Monaghan Protestants feeling uncertain about their future. They were worried that Catholics would take control, that their businesses would suffer, and that they would lose political power. This essay looks at how Home Rule affected Monaghan Protestants between 1912 and 1923.

In 1912, about 26% of the people in Monaghan were Protestant, and they had many of the same worries as other Unionists in Ulster. They feared that Home Rule would lead to Catholic political and economic dominance, with Protestant interests being ignored under a Dublin based parliament influenced by the Catholic Church. Prominent figures such as M.E. Knight, Grand Master of the Monaghan Orange Lodge, warned that Home Rule would place them under the “tyranny of Rome.” When the Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1912, many Protestants in Monaghan strongly opposed it. To show their resistance, they signed the Ulster Covenant on September 12, 1912. This document was a promise to fight against Home Rule in any way possible. More than 5,000 Protestants in Monaghan signed it, joining Unionists from other parts of Ulster to voice their opposition.

At the time, most businesses in Monaghan town were owned by Protestants, making them an important part of the local economy. The main newspaper, the Northern Standard, was also Unionist controlled. In 1912, Protestant businesses dominated the town. The diamond in Monaghan was comprised of only Protestant businesses. All hotels in the town were owned by Protestants, and there was only one Catholic hardware store, compared to three Protestant ones.

This strong economic presence made Protestants fearful that Home Rule would introduce policies that could harm their trade with Britain and favour Catholicowned businesses instead.

Previous landowners were also now very concerned. They has once been very powerful in Monaghan. Over the years, they had to sell off large estates, like the Shirley Estate in Carrickmacross in 1906. By 1913, most land was owned by former tenants rather than landlords. Many of these Protestant landowners worried that a nationalist government would introduce even more policies that could weaken their influence. They knew that while they had some power in a government controlled by Britain, they would have very little say in a Dublin one.

These fears of economic decline, political weakness, and changes in land ownership only made Monaghan Protestants more determined to resist Home Rule and defend their position in society.

As it became more likely that Home Rule would happen, Protestants in Monaghan started preparing to resist it. In 1913, Unionists set up the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a group that was willing to fight against Home Rule, using force, if necessary. By early 1914, two groups of UVF soldiers had been formed in Monaghan, and their numbers grew from 1,650 in 1913 to 2,070 by March 1914. They even set up a training camp in Knockballymore near Clones to train their members for a potential armed conflict. At the same time, Nationalists in Monaghan saw this as a threat and decided to form their own group. In 1913, they supported the creation of the Irish Volunteer Corps, which they believed was necessary to protect their cause. By September 1914, the North Monaghan regiment of the Irish Volunteers was up and running, with members joining from places like Killeevan, Clones, and Aghabog.

Tensions between Unionists and Nationalists in Monaghan were high in the early 1910s, and clashes often took place. On July 6, 1912, an incident occurred in Castleblayney when a group of Orangemen were returning from a meeting in Clones. As they marched through the town with their band, they were met by a large group of Nationalists shouting 'Home Rule' saying that it would be the last time an Orange parade would ever happen there. The confrontation turned violent, with both sides throwing stones and fighting in the streets. The police faced difficulty trying to break up the disorder, and shots were fired by some of the Orangemen. The violence only ended after the police intervened, but tensions remained high, especially when Nationalists became frustrated

that no Orangemen were arrested for firing weapons. They responded by marching through the streets, singing 'A Nation Once Again' and 'God Save Ireland,' calling for Home Rule.

When World War I started in 1914, it made the Home Rule situation even more complicated. For Unionists in Ulster, the war was a chance to show their loyalty to Britain, but Protestants in Monaghan were not as eager to join up. Unlike Protestants in bigger cities like Belfast and Derry, many in Monaghan did not sign up in large numbers. In January 1915, the local newspaper, the Northern Standard, said that only four people joined the army at a UVF meeting meant to encourage recruitment. Many Protestant farmers' sons chose to stay at home because they were earning good money on the farm, and they worried that if they left, Nationalists might take over their land. Even though not many Protestants from Monaghan went to fight, local Presbyterian churches still supported the war effort. They sent knitted socks and care packages to soldiers, and they also raised money for war prisoners. Sadly, some who did enlist never returned. On May 10, 1918, Reverend James Steen at Cahans Church, just outside Ballybay spoke about the deaths of two members of his congregation, Colonel George D. McCullagh and Major David Nelson VC, who had been killed in France.

The Government of Ireland Act 1920 created Northern Ireland with six counties, but Monaghan was left out and remained in the south. Many Unionists in Monaghan were angry and felt abandoned by their leaders and the British government. The Northern Standard, published an article called “Cast Out!” expressing how upset people were that they had stayed loyal to Britain, yet were still excluded. At an Orange Order meeting in Clones, Reverend Robert Burns summed up how many Protestants felt by saying, "In this country, it does not pay to be loyal.”

On July 12th , 1923, after partition and uncertainty for Protestants in the new Free State, the only Orange march of the year took place at Killacoonagh near Clones.

Alexander Haslett, a respected Presbyterian stated "We are not going to be sulking in a corner," he declared. "We have to live in this country, and we are going to make the most of it.”

Drum, a small village in County Monaghan, is the most Protestant village in the Republic of Ireland. This reflects the history of a community that found itself on the "wrong side" of the border after Ireland was divided in 1920. Today, only about 7% of Monaghan’s population is Protestant, but the influence of the community remains. Heather Humphreys, a government minister from Monaghan, was born and raised Protestant in Drum, her grandfather even signed the Ulster Covenant. Although Ireland has changed a lot since the early 20th century, the history of its communities is still an important part of understanding how partition affected people’s lives.

Between 1911 and 1923, Protestants in county Monaghan faced a lot of uncertainty and worry. They strongly opposed Home Rule because they feared Catholic control in politics and business. Many protested by signing the Ulster Covenant and joining Unionist groups. However, the biggest disappointment came in 1920 when the Government of Ireland Act left Monaghan out of Northern Ireland. This made Unionists feel abandoned. Even though they had remained loyal to Britain, they now had to accept being part of the Irish Free State, which many saw as a betrayal.

Sources

Catherine Morrison, 23rd June 2021: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland57569930 Lindsey Brown: The Presbyterian Dilemma: A Survey of the Presbyterians and Politics in Counties Cavan and Monaghan over Three Hundred Years: Part II of a Series on the Monaghan Presbyterians, Clogher Record, 1995, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1995), pp. 30-68 Ann Carville: The Impact of Partition Proposals on County Monaghan, Clogher Record, 1991, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1991), pp. 37-51 Terence A. M. Dooley: County Monaghan, 1914-1918: Recruitment, the Rise of Sinn Féin and the Partition Crisis, Clogher Record, 1998, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1998), pp. 144-158 Terence A. M. Dooley : Why Monaghan Protestants Opposed Home Rule, Clogher Record, 1993, Vol. 14, No. 3 (1993), pp. 42-46 Daniel Purcell: Southern Irish Loyalism, ‘Cast Out!’: Cavan and Monaghan Loyalists and Partition, 1916–1923, Chapter XII (2020)

Monaghan Courthouse

by Toms Mihailovs

Monaghan Courthouse is an important building in the centre of Monaghan town.

It is on the south side of Church Square, which was formerly called New Diamond’. The current courthouse you see today replaced an older eighteenthcentury courthouse called ‘Old Diamond’’.

A blueprint of the old courthouse signed by Alexander Fleming on 27th April 1831 still survives to this day. Alexander Fleming was an engineer and a physician from Scotland who helped design the old courthouse. The old courthouse contained many rooms including a Civil Court and Jury Room and the ground floor housed a Coffee Room.

The Jury Room was where all the main trials happened. However, eventually the old courthouse had no purpose and plans for a new one started on the site of the old county gaol.

The construction of the new courthouse took place from 1827 to 1830. The new courthouse was designed by architect Joseph Welland. The layout of the courthouse remained the same until May 1981, when a devastating fire raged through the building. The building stayed intact, but it was very damaged inside. It took almost 33 years to fully refurbish the building and fix the damage done by the fire.

The image below shows a picture from the 1980s when the courthouse was used as place to demonstrate against the Maze prison. The image was posted on Facebook on July 21st, 2017, by ‘The Monaghan Mouth’ who sourced the image from an article written by Theresa Loftus, Monaghan Museum's Exhibitions and Research Officer.

When the courthouse was refurbished, they built three modern courtrooms. There was an attempt to try to restore and replicate the exterior of the building similar to its original form. Inside, the foyer was built using limestone from Carlow.

A conservatory style glass roof brightens up the circulation area, an area in the courthouse which acts as the main route connecting the entire building and the other facilities such as the lift lobbies and fire exit stairs. This circulation area has a grand public staircase which has been constructed using Irish wood.

The courtrooms are also lined with oak panelling. It was likely used because oak is a hard and durable material, even when exposed to dampness. In the courthouse, there are new facilities accessible for everybody, including victim support rooms, cells for holding prisoners before and after trials, jury rooms and consultation rooms.

Last year, media attention was focused on the area outside the courthouse due to a commemorative event for the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. These bombings were carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force on the 17th of May 1974. The UVF was a group based in Northern Ireland made up of people who believe that Northern Ireland should stay a part of the United Kingdom.

This tragic event killed seven innocent civilians in Monaghan. On 17th May 2024, President Michael D. Higgins visited Monaghan to lay a wreath and pay his respects to the victims. In front of the courthouse, there stands a permanent memorial -- a sandstone and metal pillar -- which contains the names of all of the people who were killed in the explosion. It was unveiled by President Mary McAleese in 2004 and ensures that they will never be forgotten.

The Monaghan Bomb memorial in front of the Courthouse

Winners of the Cathaoirleach shield Primary school shield

Gaeilscoil Ultain, Muineachán

Secondary school shield Monaghan Collegiate School

Acknowledgement The Office of the Cathaoirleach and Monaghan County Libraries wishes to express our profound gratitude to all the young historians who submitted their essays in this year's competition.

Your dedication to researching our shared past and your perspectives on historical events have impressed and inspired our panel of judges. We also extend our sincere thanks to the teachers who guided the students and the parents who supported their efforts.

Understanding our past is essential to shaping our future, and we look forward to witnessing how these promising young historians will continue to preserve and illuminate our local history in the years to come.

Anybody can make history. Only a great person can write it.

- Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray)