Monaghan County Council Heritage Office in conjunction with the Irish Archaeological Consultancy invites you to workshops and the presentation of conservation reports for Killeevan Old Abbey & graveyard, Old Donagh Church & graveyard, and Drumsnat Monastic site & Old Graveyard.

The workshops will be facilitated by Paul Duffy and Christina O’Regan, archaeologists and Shirley Clerkin, Heritage Officer.

These are taking place at the following venues and times:

Conservation report	Date	Time	Venue
Old Donagh Church & graveyard	Tuesday 25 February	10am – 2pm	Glaslough Community Centre
Killeevan Old Abbey & graveyard	Wednesday 26 February	10am – 2pm	Newbliss Hall
Drumsnat monastic site & old graveyard	Thursday 27 February	10am – 2pm	Threemilehouse GAA complex

This is an open invitation to attend.  You may attend on any or all days.  Please notify Sandra McQuaid in the Heritage Office so we can provide sufficient refreshments and seating at 047 30500 or smcquaid@monaghancoco.ie

World Wetlands Day Events

-Let’s Talk Climate Action Workshop: Monday 3rd February  (7pm-10pm) in Westenra Arms Hotel, Monaghan. Booking Essential, places are limited.

-Our Wetlands-Weapons Against Climate Change Talk: Tuesday 4th February  (8pm) in The Market House,  Monaghan.

 

      

MONAGHAN’S WONDERFUL WETLANDS WORKSHOPS

Would you like to learn more about the wildlife of our wetlands?  Would you like to explore some of the wildest and most beautiful of Monaghan’s unique habitats?

Monaghan County Council Heritage Office invites interested individuals and community groups to a novel programme that will discover some of the wettest and wildest places in our county. This half-day programme will include presentations, fieldtrip to a beautiful wetland and a creative workshop with a difference.  Participants will also help to create new interpretative material for their local wetland.   No experience or knowledge needed but pre-booking is essential.  There is no charge for this event.  The events will be around 4 hours in duration and will be taking place in Carrickmacross, Monaghan and Clones.

Waterproof clothing and footwear essential.

All equipment is supplied. It is useful to bring a camera.

Tuesday 1^st October, 2019           St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, Monaghan.

 

Wednesday 2^nd October, 2019     Ulster Canal Stores, Clones.

 

Thursday 3^rd October, 2019          Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross.

 

For more details go to www.monaghancoco.ie/

Registration by email: smcquaid@monaghancoco.ie or 047 30500

These workshops are funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, through the National Biodiversity Action Plan Local Authorities Biodiversity project funding.

Fortunately there is a fine heritage of historic buildings in County Monaghan, many of which are quirky and full of personality.

Saturday’s heritage tours of Bessmount Park and Annaghmakerrig demonstrated how hard stone, brick and slate can tell stories of their builders, owners and occupants.

Daisy Mountgomery and the Clogher Historical Society guided crowds around the gothic fairytale that is Bessmount Park, a few kilometres from Monaghan town.  The Mountgomery family bought the house in the early twentieth century.

Frances (née Hatchell) and William Henderson transformed this late Georgian house into a gothic extravaganza in 1868.

The depictions of nature around the front porch, of monkeys peaking out beneath leaves, bats and other animals are in keeping with the fashion of the time that architecture is “made beautiful when adorned with art inspired by nature”.

The house has a fantastic central tower with decorative bands of yellow and red brick, and humorous stone portraits of the married couple Frances and William adorn either side of the door.  Daisy’s passion for the house and its history, and keeping it maintained for the present and future generations literally gave the day a “tour de force”.

Christopher Fitz-Simon presented Annaghmakerrig, located close to Newbliss, and now known as the Tyrone Guthrie Centre.  Sir Tyrone Guthrie was a well-known theatre producer and director who left the house and grounds to the Ireland as a place of retreat for artists on his death in 1971.  It opened as such ten years later, and artists have been making their way to the Monaghan countryside for a week or two ever since, where it’s atmosphere and amenities have enabled many creative works to be thought of, started and finished.  Christopher and his mother spent time at Annaghmakerrig during World War Two when Mrs Guthrie, Tyrone’s mother took in paying guests to meet the cost of running the house and as a way of keeping on staff during difficult times.  Visitors were guided through the drawing room, library and one of the bedrooms now used for artists.  The house is jointly funded by the Arts Councils, north and south and by the residency fees from the artists.  The OPW look after the maintenance of the buildings and grounds.

 

Rachael Hegarty, a poet from Finglas, together with some other artists presented some work in the Music Room.  Rachael’s most recent publication entitled May Day 1974 contains 33 poems, one for each of the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. As a child she and her mother were caught up in the Talbot Street explosion in Dublin.  She read from the book, first an excerpt from the coroner’s court and then a ballad.  Her words captured the deceased person with delicacy, warmth and honesty of language.

A tour of the artists studios and the dance studio finished the tour, once the legendary Annaghmakerrig tea and traybakes were consumed.  A wonderful young dancer from Sicily silenced all in the dance studio with his balance, poise, and the expressiveness of every movement.

Shirley Clerkin, Heritage Officer said “Thank you to everyone who helped us with the heritage week open days.  The tour guides, participants, those who helped behind the scenes, and people who came all made heritage week a great success.  It is wonderful to see such vibrancy in these historic buildings, enabling them to have stable and long term futures as part of Monaghan’s heritage and landscape.”

   

   

Photos:

Bessmount Park, a gothic fairytale, Monaghan.

Daisy Mountgomery pictured amongst one of the tour groups at Bessmount Park.

Christoper Fitz-Simon consults his notes in the library at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Newbliss, County Monaghan.

Rachael Hegarty reads from her book May Day 1974

Local Historian Enda Galligan conducted a social history tour of Coolshannagh Municipal Graveyard on Friday for Heritage Week.

Coolshannagh meaning Hill of the Fox, is located on the outskirts of Monaghan town, close to St. Davnet’s Hospital and the site of the original Railway station.

The great and the good are interred there, including the matron of the nearby Workhouse, an antiquarian and the author of a book on European Butterflies, and some well-known medical doctors.

The graveyard was originally divided into sections for the established church (Church of Ireland), the dissenters (Presbyterians) and Roman Catholics and then also in half for towns people and country people.

Herbalist Anne Bleakley, originally from County Down and a biomedical scientist presented a talk in Carrickmacross Library on Friday evening on traditional cures and charms.  To a packed house, she explained how traditionally this was accessible medicine for everyone where money never changed hands.  Anne is currently working on documenting as many cures as possible. The cures generally went to those who were most disadvantaged in society, such as the seventh son of the seventh son, or a widow.  Blacksmiths were also believed to have cures because of the magical transformations they could create through melting, forging and working with iron.  Cures have generally two parts – the actual medicine, plant or placing on of a snail or sheep’s wool for example, and secondly the prayer or the incantation which must be learned by heart and for this reason are not often recorded.  The words would have originally been pagan, but now are usually christian prayers.

Shirley Clerkin, Heritage Officer said “Cures hold an intangible and indigenous knowledge about the medicinal characteristics of many of our plant species, and even microbes and minerals in water that we’ve forgotten.  They demonstrate the importance of our biodiversity for medicine in the past and indeed in the future.  Universal access to medicine is expressed in how the cure was given anyone who asked, as a real societal good.”

Photos from left to right:

-Heritage tour group pictured at Coolshannagh graveyard.

-Enda Galligan describing how the graveyard was originally laid out at Coolshannagh.

-Anne Blakely presenting her research on traditional cures and charms in Carrickmacross Library for Heritage Week.

Fitting in with the Heritage week theme of past times, the traditional skills day in Monaghan highlighted the world of work when a “hands-on” approach was required.

 

Blacksmith Peter Cassidy kept his fire going all day, using an enormous hand pumped bellows.  On the request of one of the vintage enthusiasts present, he forged some brackets and pins from salvaged wrought iron.

These will be used to repair an old cart.  He demonstrated his skills including forge welding, and shaped and cut iron all day with ease.

 

Seamus Cassidy demonstrated wood carving on his lath, a very skilful craft which requires time and patience to learn.  He showed some beautiful stools and bowls.

 

Eddie McGrath, basket maker, brought plenty of willow with him to make baskets and even bird tables.

 

Benny and Mary McCabe arrived in their vintage Ford Escort and truck.  A gorgeous Ford Cortina was also on display.

 

A Carrickmacross lace demonstration – now registered on the intangible heritage inventory for Ireland, and storytelling were held inside.

Providing some horsepower for the event was Dandy the cob, there with his owner Caoimhe.

 

A group of experts demonstrated “letting out the rope” – this is when someone twists a bag of hay into a rope to tie around corn as it dries.

You have to literally let the rope out of the bag.  The rope was then used for skipping, briefly and badly by the heritage officer.

 

Traditional music from the McCagues and Irish dancing complimented all the other activities.

       

Notes:

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out.  Thanks to the Civil Defence and to Gavin Duffy Park.

 

Benny and Mary McCabe are holding a vintage day in aid of Crocus on the 15^th September.

Two heritage walks climb two “mountains” in Monaghan.

The first of these on Thursday morning, guided people to the summit of Mullyash Mountain to visit the impressive cairn.

Organised by the Clogher Historical Society in conjunction with the Mullyash Community Group, the day commenced with a talk from Deborah Flack in the community centre.

The group listened to the Heritage at the Heart podcast which was recorded earlier in the year on the cairn before setting off.

Mullyash cairn is situated in Mullyash and Tavanaskea, in the parish of Muckno, on the border with Armagh.

Mullyash is a national monument, located at 315m above sea level, providing views over nine counties on a good day.

The cairn is likely to be over 4000- 5000 years old and it is generally agreed that it contains a passage tomb.

The second walk on Friday evening, brought the attendees up the side of Corduff Mountain, under the guidance of the Corduff/Raferagh Heritage group.

Superb views to the surrounding drumlins opened up as the climb ascended to meet the old Mass Pad, and to the now unused vernacular farmhouse of the McKeown family.

The farm house is in a traditional Ulster style, with a small porch, jamb wall inside to shield the hearth from the wind containing a little spy window so that both visitor and occupant can have a view out or in.

Inside there is also a beautiful wide hearth, with the remains of a pryramidal canopy still evident.The remains of a thatched roof can be seen under the corrugated iron roof.

It was normal to leave the old thatch in situ when a new tin roof was being fitted, as insulation to retain heat and reduce noise from the rain.

      

 

Photos:

The group in Mullyash Community Centre before ascending Mullyash Mountain.

Climbing the hill in Corduff.

The walk around Corduff pictured outside the old farm house.

On Wednesday August 21st, Rossmore Park, Monaghan was the location for Wild Child Day, a day of nature exploration activities aimed at introducing children to wildlife and scientific survey techniques.

The weather was wet but the families were undeterred. They participated in kick sampling to collect biological samples to rate the water quality of the stream with Dr. Gretta McCarron, and learned how to identify fresh water shrimp, baby crayfish, stoneflies and other creatures.  Billy Flynn led families on nature walks around the woodlands, and wetlands to learn about tree species, fungi and plants. Michaela Kirrane from Inland Fisheries conducted some electro-fishing and set up a tank in the marquee with brown trout from the stream.  Kieran Flood from the Irish Wildlife Trust ran bee monitoring workshops, describing how our 99 species of bees require different types food and shelter to survive. Children and adults learned how to swipe with a net to safely catch bees for observation and identification.  One session of outdoor yoga was held before the torrential rain closed in for the day.  Art and nature activities were ongoing in the tent.

Shirley Clerkin, Heritage Officer said “It is important that children learn that their own local places are homes for nature as well as far flung exotic locations, and understand that the assemblages of species present are indicators of the health of the environment.  They showed a heartening enthusiasm for our natural heritage.  Today they began their journeys as citizen scientists.”

Monaghan County Council wants to thank everyone who helped to organise such a wonderful day!

 

A wonderful day was had with the Golden Eagle Trust and the Collaborative Action for Natura Network project on Sliabh Beagh, Monaghan yesterday.

Dr. Marc Ruddock introduced the sounds and sights of the bog to the participants, before everyone set off up the blanket bog plateau which covers three counties – Monaghan, Fermanagh and Tyrone.

The damp and misty weather failed to dampen the spirits, but it did dampen the behaviour of the birds who mostly stayed undercover.

The bog is a cross-border site with European and national designations for its protection, and the protection of bird species including the wonderful sky-dancer, the Hen Harrier.

     

Photos from left to right:

Frank Connolly helps his granddaughter focus on one of his favourite pastimes – watching birds, in this case a kestrel.

Dr. Rory Sheehan explains how sphagnum moss holds water and creates peat.

Note: The Collaborative Action for Natura Network project is funded through Interreg.

 

 

There is nothing quite like being a tourist in your own place to gain new perspectives on heritage, both cultural and natural.

The Bragan Bus Tour visited sites of interest in north Monaghan and over the border, in the area know as Errigal Truagh or Bragan.

Sites visited included the penal cross on Sliabh Beagh, Errigal Truagh medieval church and graveyard and St. Patrick’s Chair.

Photo: A snap of the participants waiting for the bus on Tuesday morning.