Cavan

County of the Republic of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland, in the province of Ulster; county town Cavan; area 1,890 sq km/730 sq mi; population (2002) 56,550. The chief rivers are the Woodford, the Shannon (rising on the south slopes of Cuilcagh mountain; 667 m/2,188 ft), and the Erne, which divides Cavan into two parts: a narrow, mostly low-lying stretch of ground, 30 km/19 mi long, between Leitrim and Fermanagh; and an eastern section of wild and bare hill country. The chief towns are Cavan and Kilmore, seat of Roman Catholic and Protestant bishoprics. Agriculture is the chief industry; mushrooms and oats are major crops; dairying and pig- and beef-farming are also important.

Cavan is predominantly a rural county, with only 16% of its population living in towns with a population of 1,500 or more. Much of the county is covered in bog and forest. The soil is generally poor and the climate moist and cold. The chief lakes, noted for their scenery and coarse fishing, include the tortuously shaped Lough Oughter, and Loughs Ramor, Sheelin, Sillan, and Brackley. Other towns include Bailieborough, Ballyjamesduff, Belturbet, Cootehill, Kingscourt, and Virginia.

Features include the 6th-century Drumline monastic site, with a round tower and 13th-century church. Cavan County Museum is located in a 19th-century building in Ballyjamesduff; artefacts on display include the 4,000-year-old Killycluggin stone and the 1,000-year-old Lough Errol Log boat. Killykeen Forest Park is also located in the county.

Cavan

Market and county town in County Cavan, Republic of Ireland; population (2002) 3,500. It is situated on a tributary of the River Annalee, near Lough Oughter, 8 km/5 mi west of Killykeen Forest Park. Cavan crystal is handblown and cut here in the traditional manner, and its glassworks is the second-oldest in Ireland.

Cavan was the seat of the O'Reillys, rulers of the ancient territory of east Breifne.

Features include the belfry tower of a Franciscan friary founded in 1300 and St Fethlimidh's Protestant cathedral, 5 km/3.5 mi southwest of Cavan in Kilmore, which is a Gothic Revival structure and incorporates a Romanesque doorway from a monastery founded on Trinity Island in Lough Oughter. Some 10 km/6 mi northwest of Cavan on an island in Lough Oughter are the ruins of the 13th-century Cloghoughter Castle, a round fortress which was the stronghold of the O'Reillys and was destroyed in 1653 by Cromwellian forces. The tomb of Bishop Bedell (1571–1642), who first translated the Old Testament into Irish, is in the graveyard in the town. Cavan also has a modern Roman Catholic cathedral, built in 1942. The Pighouse Collection at Cornafean, 11 km/7 mi from Cavan, is a museum of folk and rural life.