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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) 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 Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. As of the 2022 census, the town's population was 1,651. 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

Bailieborough Bailieborough or Bailieboro (; ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Cavan, Ireland. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the population was 2,974, up from 1,529 as of the 1996 census. Bailieborough's prox ...

St Kilian and churches

The town has a heritage centre dedicated to St Kilian, who was born in Mullagh c 640 and was martyred in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

in northern

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Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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

ogham Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) 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 language ( scholastic ...

script and the development of

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

s. The

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church, a Victorian neo-Gothic 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 (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

grounds located approximately 600m along the same road.

Development

Mullagh's population has seen an increase from 679 residents in the 2006 census, to 1,651 in the 2022 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 10 pm 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 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 writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

, Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, wrote parts of ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''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 clerg ...

'' and ''The Tale Of The Tub'' whilst staying near Mullagh (He is said to have taken inspiration for Gulliver and the Brobdingnagians from a tall local farmer nicknamed 'Big Doughty' when he saw the farmer lifting a large calf over a gate.) Dean Swift was staying at the country home of his cleric friend The Rev. Thomas Sheridan at Quilca House, which is close to the historic location of the original Mullagh village near the hamlet of Cross. Other notable descendants from the (Quilca) Sheridan family are the 18th century playwright Thomas Sheridan and notable writer

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

. 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 except the name of the crossroads at the foot of Mullagh Hill which are still called 'The Gates Of Old Mullagh'

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 Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'') * Brían F. O'Byrne, film, television and stage actor ('' Intermission, Brooklyn's Finest,

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by Paul Haggis. It is based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

FlashForward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

, Prime Suspect, Love/Hate'') * Agnes O'Farrelly, Professor, Novelist, Founder of Cumann na mBan, 4th President of the Camogie Association and Irish Language Scholar born at Raffony, Crossreagh, Mullagh near the parish border with Lurgan. *

Saint Kilian Kilian, also spelled Cillian or Killian (or alternatively ; , original Gaelic form Ceallach), was an Ireland, Irish missionary bishop and the Apostle of Franconia (now the northern part of Bavaria), where he began his labours in the latter half ...

, Irish missionary to the Franks of

. Born in a fort in Cloghballybeg, The Gates, Mullagh in 640 A.D. Martyred in 689 in

. Patron saint of

Rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

References

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