Mullagh (; ) is a town,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...

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 town's population was 1,348. It lies in the south-east of the county, at the junction of the R191 and the R194 regional roads near the towns of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Bailieborough Bailieborough or Bailieboro (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. , its population was 2,683, up from 1,529 as of the 1996 census. Bailieborough's proximity to the N3 National Road has made it a commuter town. History Plantation Before ...

St Kilian and churches

The town has a heritage centre dedicated to

St Kilian Kilian, also spelled Cillian or Killian (or alternatively ga, Cillín; la, Kilianus), was an Irish missionary bishop and the Apostle of Franconia (Franconia is nowadays the northern part of Bavaria), where he began his labours in the latter ha ...

, who was born in Mullagh c 640 and was martyred in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

in northern

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in circa 689. The centre also has an exhibition related to

ogham Ogham ( Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langu ...

script and the development of

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

s. The

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, a Victorian

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structure located 400m from the village on the Virginia Road (R194), is named in memory of its patron, Saint Kilian. It was built in the late 1850s. Ruins of an earlier church, known as the ''Teampeall Ceallaigh'', remain in what is now part of the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

grounds located approximately 600m along the same road.

Development

Mullagh's population has seen an increase from 679 residents in the 2006 census, to 1,137 in the 2011 census, to 1,348 in the 2016 census. The environs of the village have witnessed substantial housing and industrial development over these years. Mullagh's relative proximity to the new M3 motorway has had the effect of making the capital city more accessible to Mullagh and County Cavan.

Amenities

Amenities locally include ''Mullagh Lake'' and Hill Walk (2 kilometers outside the village on the ''Virginia Road''), Tennis Court and People's Park on ''Mullagh Fair Green'', Children's Playground beside the St. Kilian's Heritage Center. The Edwin Carolan Memorial Park includes a full size GAA pitch (open to all sports), a 440-metre track around its perimeter, a multi purpose Sports Centre and Gym. In the winter, the track is lit each night from 7.30 to 10pm or so to facilitate walking and running.

Local community organisations

Local community organisations include a men's and ladies GAA club (Cúchulainns GFC), Community Games (athletics club), a drama society (Millrace Drama Group), a golf society, friendship club, parent and toddler group, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts. Separate committees include the Mullagh Tourism & Community Development Committee, Mullagh Tidy Towns, and St Kilian's Housing Association.

Transport

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 ...

route 108 provides three journeys a day (one on Sundays) to Kells in County Meath for onward journeys, and three journeys a day (one on Sundays) to the neighbouring town of

Events

Mullagh Fair Day was one of the biggest fairs in the North East, and its proximity to the Virginia Road railway station ensured that cattle purchased in Mullagh could easily be transported to ports in Dublin and Drogheda. However the opening of the Mullagh mart in 1957 finally brought to a close a long chapter in the history of Mullagh, since the first charters and licences were granted in 1621. The Mullagh Tourism & Community Development Committee re-established the Fair Day in 1997, and it has since grown to be one of the largest one day shows in the North East. The fair takes place each year on the 2nd Sunday in September.

Historic associations

The V. Rev. Dr

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

, Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in

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 ...

, wrote parts of ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

'' and ''The Tale Of The Tub'' whilst staying near Mullagh.

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Swift was staying at the country home of his cleric friend The Rev. Thomas Sheridan at Quilca House, which is close to the old, historic Mullagh village. Other notable descendants from the (Quilca) Sheridan family are the 18th century playwright

Thomas Sheridan Thomas Sheridan may refer to: *Thomas Sheridan (divine) (1687–1738), Anglican divine *Thomas Sheridan (actor) (1719–1788), Irish actor and teacher of elocution *Thomas Sheridan (soldier) (1775–1817/18) *Thomas B. Sheridan (born 1931), America ...

and notable writer

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

. The original historic village of Mullagh was situated over a kilometre north-west of the present village close to Mullagh Lake, just off the Virginia Road, but there no longer remain any distinguishing features.

People

* Henry Brooke (1703-1783), novelist and dramatist, was born and raised at Rantavan House, very near Mullagh. * T. P. McKenna, television actor ('' All Creatures Great and Small,

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'') * Brían F. O'Byrne, film, television and stage actor (''

Intermission An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte ( ...

Brooklyn's Finest ''Brooklyn's Finest'' is a 2009 American crime film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Michael C. Martin. The film stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, and Wesley Snipes. ''Brooklyn's Finest'' had its world premiere at the 2009 Su ...

, Million Dollar Baby, FlashForward,

Prime Suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

, Love/Hate'')

References

{{Civil parishes of County Cavan Towns and villages in County Cavan Civil parishes of County Cavan Townlands of County Cavan