Monasteraden () is a village in

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The village is located on the shores of

Lough Gara Lough Gara () is a lake in Counties Sligo and Roscommon, Ireland. It is an Important Bird Area protecting 1,788 ha of which most (1,742 ha) is covered by a Ramsar Site. History Lough Gara was known in ancient times as Loch Techet, but the O’ ...

. St Aiden's church is the village's church. Other sites include Lough Gara Lodge, Slí na Croí's Roundhouse Ecolodge, Drury's pub and the general store.

Geography

Monasteraden lies to the west of

and with the

Curlew Mountains The Curlew Mountains () are a range of low-lying hills situated between Boyle and Castlebaldwin in northeastern Connacht. Toponymy The assignation of the name ''Curlew'' to the mountains may not relate the Curlew bird, but rather to the ga, cor ...

inlier An inlier is an area of older rock (geology), rocks surrounded by younger rocks. Inliers are typically formed by the erosion of overlying younger rocks to reveal a limited outcrop, exposure of the older underlying rocks. Fault (geology), Faulting o ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s and conglomerates to the North. To the west lies the townland of Clogher with Edmondstown and

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is located just off the N5 National primary road. The population was 1,808 in the 2016 census. History As of 1837, the town was recorde ...

in the neighbouring

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. Monasteraden is situated in the barony of Coolavin in the south of

Culture and community

There is a holy well called St

Attracta Athracht (Modern Irish ''Naomh Adhracht''; in Latin sources ''Attracta'') is the patron saint of the parish of Locha Techet (Lough Gara) and Tourlestrane, Co. Sligo, Ireland. She was a sister of Bishop Conal of Drumconnell. Her feast day is ...

s and that is where many people used to get their

drinking Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely among o ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

. The lake is used for fishing for the

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

and is divided by the bridge at Clooncunny.

Transport

Island Road railway station served Monasteraden and used to have many trains passing by on the

Ballaghaderreen branch line The Ballaghaderreen branch line connected Ballaghaderreen railway station to Kilfree Junction on the Dublin to Sligo main line. It opened in 1874 and closed in 1963. History The Sligo & Ballaghaderreen Junction Railway (S&BJR) was incorporat ...

with connections to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

but that was closed in 1963 and the station building is a private home. The nearest railway station is now , some away. One

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

service a week stops at Monasteraden. The nearest bus station is in Ballaghaderreen, which is about miles away and has several buses travelling to and from Dublin daily.

Education

There is a national school, St. Aiden's in Monasteraden. They have been particularly noted for their work with film, including producing a 32-minute movie entitled "The Train" bringing together rare footage and interviews with local people associated with the

which had a station serving they village.

References

Towns and villages in County Sligo {{Sligo-geo-stub

Geography

Culture and community

Transport

Education

See also

References