In the context of producing a County Development Strategy, The Cultural/ Heritage Working Group are assessing the county as ‘a place to enjoy and be proud of’. While this section might not be considered by many as important in generating economic activity, it performs a vital function in our county:

• it makes people want to live here rather than commute
• it generates economic activity, by providing opportunities for people to engage in social and leisure pursuits
• it fosters a sense of belonging to an area, and acts as a cohesive force in creating and maintaining strong communities.

An outline of the topics covered, and the main issues affecting them follows.

The Cultural/ Heritage Working Group covers the following areas:

• The Arts (literary, performing, visual, community, music and crafts)
• Heritage (history, archaeology, environment, An Ghaeilge, folklore, customs)
• Sports & Recreation (competitive, leisure, lifestyle, social)
• Contemporary Life (Religion, citizenship, the Border, tourism, education, government)

Key figures in each of the above have been drawn together onto the ARCHES (Arts, Recreation, Culture, Heritage, Education, Sport) Working Group. They are:

In addition to the Working Group, a Culture/ Heritage Network of organisations involved in heritage projects around the county is also linked into the County Development Board through the Community Forum. There are 71 people on the Network, including regional representatives from the main heritage agencies, noted local historians, and some 47 local heritage groups and organisations.

Culture in Monaghan is taken to include four distinct areas: Arts, Heritage, Sports & Recreation and Contemporary Life. The Arts include Literary, Performing and Visual Arts, Fine and Community Arts and Crafts. Heritage includes History, Architecture & Monuments, Natural and Built Environment, Linguistic Heritage and Archaeology. Sports include high performance, club and lifestyle sports. Social recreation includes everything from pub life and discos to card games and skittles. Contemporary life includes Education, Government, Minorities, Citizenship, Tourism, An Ghaeilge and religious practices.

There is no purpose-built arts centre in Monaghan. However, there are three applications for arts centres with the Dept. at the moment. Two of these are for arts complexes, to include theatre facilities (one in Monaghan, the other in Castleblayney); the third proposes to redevelop the Market House in Monaghan as a small civic centre. One of the three will receive grant aid under the ACCESS programme, and word should be received in April 2001.

In the meantime, the Garage Theatre, situated in the grounds of St. Davnet’s Hospital on the outskirts of Monaghan, serves as the county’s only theatre. Both exhibition spaces in the county (Museum Gallery & Market House) are also located in the county capital. Monaghan County Council employs an Arts Officer, whose budget of £80,000 per annum stretches to provide support to local people striving to follow a career in one of the arts disciplines. The Arts Officer also organises the annual Harvest Time Blues Festival, which again takes place in Monaghan town.

County Monaghan had a strong tradition of community drama; however, this has fallen away in recent years. The few groups which remain are highly successful, semi-professional, and many well-respected figures have emerged from Co Monaghan over the years, especially in the fields of literature, film and TV. The hub of the community drama scene in the county is the Castleblayney Drama Festival, organised by a voluntary committee in March each year.

Co. Monaghan is well-known in Arts circles, being home to the international artists’ retreat, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. This facility was left to Ireland (North and South) by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, a prominent stage producer and director at the turn of the last Century, whose intention was to provide artists with a facility where they could come for extended periods to work, and to share ideas and experiences with the other residents. Much of the work produced in Annaghmakerrig has taken inspiration locally, and a body of work featuring the landscape of Monaghan has been building at the centre over the years. The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is the only arts project in the county which receives significant funding from the Arts Council.

Monaghan has had a strong literary tradition from earliest times; a 77-acre site of Stone-Age Rock art in Inniskeen is the earliest known literary work in the county. There are many examples of ballads associated with the county dating to the bardic days; O’Carolan himself is said to have spent time in the south of the county. William Carleton, who works are celebrated each year in a literary weekend in Clogher, Co. Tyrone, wrote extensively of 18^th and 19^th Century life in Cos. Monaghan, Louth and South Ulster. The writings of Patrick Kavanagh vividly capture rural life in1920’s to 1940’s rural Ireland, in poetry, in three novels and in many journalistic pieces for the Irish Times and the Irish Farmer’s Journal. Monaghan’s literary tradition must be considered, however, to be in its peak at the moment, with established writers of international status such as Eugene Mc Cabe, John McArdle and Pat Mc Cabe, and young emerging talents in Damien Owens and Declan O Gorman.

County Monaghan has a strong and varied association with music. Castleblayney has produced a number of County singers and musicians and also one of Ireland’s most popular jazz musicians in Paddy Cole. Blues music is especially strong in North Monaghan, and traditional musicians are plentiful and skilled.

The visual arts have a low profile in Co Monaghan. Little in the way of public art pieces are in evidence around the towns and public buildings in the county. However, Carrickmacross’s silhouette of Kavanagh sitting on a bench at Lisanisk lake, and the silhoutte of a fisherman at the bridge in Emyvale, might be developed into a county-wide theme.

The county is gathering an increasing reputation as a producer of quality crafts. The longest established of the crafts in the county are Carrickmacross Lace, which was featured on Princess Diana’s wedding dress, and Clones Lace. The lace exhibition in the Canal Stores in Clones could be built upon. There are 17 craft producers in the county, the second highest number registered to one county with the Irish Crafts Council. A dedicated Crafts Development Officer within Cavan Monaghan LEADER is helping to fast-track the design process and business development of this sector, which shows much promise for the future.

The majority of Monaghan’s heritage events are organised by voluntary groups, the only exception being the County Council-run Blues Festival. The other annual events around the county are:

Monaghan has a very well documented history. The excellent Rushe’s "History of Monaghan" and Livingtone’s "A Monaghan Story" are among the county’s most valuable assets. Other records of life in Co Monaghan are unique: Trent’s "Realities of Irish Life" was the foremost publication on Irish tenancy at the time of the Famine. Trent was agent for the Bath Estate in the 1840’s. The Bath Estate was one half of the Barony of Farney, which covered 200,000 acres of South Monaghan, and was awarded to Devereux, the Earl of Essex by Elizabeth I for his part in the subduing of Ireland. A more recent publication by Prof. Paddy Duffy of Maynooth’s Geography Dept., "Landscapes of South Ulster", published in the 1990’s, describes how our heritage of whitethorn hedges were first introduced to the county in the 1800’s by the landlords of the time, to serve as boundaries between the tenants’ holdings. These ‘quicksets’ were given out free to tenants when they came in to pay their annual rent.

Co. Monaghan has been blessed with a wealth of gifted historians down through the ages, a tradition that is stronger than ever today in the Clogher Historical Society, which produces the excellent "Clogher Record". In this annual publication, historians vie for space to present papers on a wide range of historical topics, and the maintenance of an entire collection of these works should be a priority for the county.

In contrast to the documentation available on historical events in the county, very little work has been carried out in the county in terms of documenting the heritage sites around the county. There has never been an archaeological survey of Co Monaghan, and as the pace of development picks up in the county, the risk of losing irreplaceable sites of local and national importance increases. Some well-known sites around the county include:

• The Ulster Canal, and buildings in Clones
• The disused Great Northern Railway, which ran from Dundalk via Inniskeen (where a spur line departed for Carrickmacross, for the benefit of the Essex Estate’s Land Agent – Essex having donated the land for the railway line), Castleblayney, Monaghan, Newbliss, Clones and on to Enniskillen. The railway buildings in Monaghan town are in good condition.
• Inniskeen monastic site & Round Tower
• Inniskeen Norman Motte (a look-out post linked to Roache’s Castle in Forkhill, which was the North-Western-most point of The Pale)
• Rock Art sites all over South Monaghan
• The Kavanagh Homestead
• Mannan Castle Archeaological site, Donaghmoyne (an Iron Age settlement, which appears to have a number of ritual pools similar to those at Emain Macha, seat of the High Kings of Ulster in Armagh)
• Laragh Village – an intact but empty linen village near Lough Egish
• Mullen Mills Villa'e – similar village near Emyvale
• Linen houses around Ballybay – the houses of the more wealthy linen producers have survived long after the industry has died away
• Harrison’s Mill (Lough Egish) – a three-storey stone linen mill, complete with all its workings, left as it was the day the key was turned in the door for the last time in the early 1900’s
• Rossmore Estate – now a forest park`in Coillte ownership on the edge of Monaghan
• Dartry Estate – which runs from Rockcorry to Cootehill, and for which we have the only complete account of the contents of the Big House in i4s heyday.
• Castle Leslie – the only estate in Monaghan which remains in the ownership of the original family

Monaghan County Council’s County Plan lists the sites around the county which it considers to be worthy of preservation. These include everything from avenues of mature trees to Special Areas of Conservation. The Bragan mountain, a fine example of a Blanket Bog, Louch Muckno and the Dromore River System are natural amenities worthy of careful development for the enjoyment of the people of Monaghan.

A complete record of Co Monaghan’s graveyards was completed in 1998 by Theo McMahon with LEADER assistance. A photographic record of the Churches of the county (all denominations) has been made by Brian McDonald (1996), but is in need of updating.

Monaghan County Museum is one of only nine county museums in Ireland, and has proven itself to be one of the best in Europe over the years. The Museum also enjoys designated status from the National Museum, which allows the National Museum to return artefacts collected in the area to be displayed in Monaghan. The Museum is short on both archiving room and exhibition space, and consideration should be given to how this wonderful resource can be given a home worthy of its value to the people of Monaghan.

The National Folklore Commission undertook a nation-wide recording of local folklore in the 1920’s. This was done through the children at all the primary schools in the country. The information collected in Co. Monaghan should be collected, and perhaps a new study performed before many of the old ways are lost to us completely.

An Ghaeilge is no longer spoken as the first language in Co Monaghan. The last native Irish speaker in Inniskeen, for example, died in 1952. However, interest in the language is increasing; there are now two all-Irish primary schools in the county, and the VEC is currently considering the viability of the county’s first All-Irish secondary school.

There are a few buildings worthy of preservation around the county. The urban settlements in Co Monaghan still follow the original designs of the Elizabethan settlers who first created them. ‘The Diamond’ system of town planning is still intact in both Clones and Monaghan, and many fine buildings still stand in the centres of all five towns. Rockcorry and Glaslough are picturesque examples of Estate villages, and every effort should be made to ensure that future development does not change the character of these villages. Some fine buildings associated with Monaghan’s Plantation past are still to be seen around the county, for example ‘Lewis’s House’ on the Dundalk Road side of Carrickmacross. Of particular historical signiæicance is the birthplace of General Juan McKenna, who liberated Chile from the Spaniards and became that country’s first president. The homestead, on 40 acres, is located on the outskirts of Monaghan town.

3. Sports & Recreation

As in every county in Ireland, the Gaelic Athletic Association flourishes in Monaghan. While most local clubs own their own grounds, St Tiernach’s Park in Clones belongs to the GAA, and has the largest spectator capacity of any pitch outside Dublin. Clones hosts the Ulster Final each year. In recent years, Monaghan has been to the forefront in the development of Ladies Football, having featured in the All-Ireland Final in three of the last four years, winning in 1999. Hurling is not strong in the county.

Monaghan United soccer club has developed a fine pitch and pavilion on the outskirts of Monaghan Town, where it provides underage coaching for both boys and girls. The Senior team plays in the First Division of the Irish League.

Monaghan’s one dedicated rugby pitch is located just outside Ballinode village. The same village has recently developed a community all-weather pitch, which is being used for everything from 5-a-side soccer to hockey and basketball.

Golf has always been popular in Co Monaghan, and the number and size of courses continues to grow. Waiting lists for membership is now common; many distance members, unable to gain entry to clubs nearer to home, travel from Dublin at the weekends to ‘get a game’. Pitch’n’putt facilities are also on the increase around the county, and there are now two driving ranges: one opposite Rossmore Golf Club in Monaghan, the other in Inniskeen.

Rallying and motorbike racing are popular in Co Monaghan. A car racing track has been developed in an old quarry in Latton, while Scotstown boasts a new Rally School Ireland. Glaslough is home each year to Motorcycle Road Races, and a Stages Rally is hosted by local hotels around the county in the Spring each year.

Monaghan has a very active equestrian population. Trotting is particularly strong among the Travelling Community of Monaghan. Showjumping has always done well in the County, and Clones-based Clem McMahon has been National Champion twice in the last three years. The recent closure of Castleblayney Equestrian Centre has left just two Riding Schools in the county: Glaslough and Carrickmacross. There is a national-standard cross-country course attached to Glaslough, which has hosted National One Day Events for Riding Club and the Irish Horse Trials Association. There are three Hunts active in different parts of the county: of these, the Fermanagh Harriers is based within the county in Clones, where the Vance family have recently developed a cross-country training facility across mature open parkland.

Most sports clubs and activities are run on a voluntary basis, where adequate organisational help and coaching provision are the major problems. Of the voluntary clubs two in particular stand out:

• Smithboro Boxing Club, which has produced many champions (including Barry McGuigan), and
• Killevan Gymnastics club, who consistently produce children who win at national level, and who offer tuition to children from all over the county (a bus from Mullaghmatt, for example, brings children out to train with the club).

Indoor and Road Bowls are very popular in rural areas, and the recent addition of a Ten-pin bowling centre in Castleblayney has added a much needed non-alcholic social venue to that town. The four-cinema complex in Monaghan town completes the recreational amenities in the county which do not rely on the sale of alcohol to provide entertainment.

Social recreation is heavily dependant on the hotels and pubs of the county, who provide musical entertainment in order to boost bar sales. The patrons of the discos in Monaghan, Carrickmacross and Castleblayney are becoming increasingly disruptive, and often violent after close of business. Drug-taking is becoming endemic in the culture of the young.

The ‘dances’ which used to be a regular social outing for the more mature segment of the population, are becoming increasingly infrequent, and the old ‘ceili-ing’ to friends and family in the evenings is also dying out. It is for the post-disco ages that the social landscape of Co Monaghan is at its weakest.

A unique feature to Monaghan society is the diversity of religious traditions in the county. Both Presbyterian and Church of Ireland congregations are large and active in the county, and may other minority religions flourish. With the political undercurrents associated with religious practice in Ireland, it goes without saying that much reconciliation work needs to be undertaken to release the full potential of cross-community relations in local areas.

Community-led development has always been a feature of Monaghan life; both the Credit Union and Co-Operatives movements originated in Co Monaghan. However, particularly in the last ten years, local development organisations have been carrying out audits of their area, identifying local needs, and setting about solving these needs for themselves. Many of the projects undertaken around the county by community groups rely heavily on FAS Community Employment schemes for their labour force. As these schemes are cut back, workers finish their term and are unable to continue, and as employment becomes more plentiful elsewhere, local community projects are now in crisis. 67 community workers around the county are currently relying on Peace & Reconciliation for their wages; ways of mainstreaming these projects, and/or making them self-sustaining, are urgently required.

Monaghan has the longest stretch of Border of all the counties touching the divide, and is surrounded on three sides by erstwhile neighbours with whom they now find it difficult to carry out ordinary business. The Connons, outside Clones, is only accessible from Northern Ireland, although it lies in the South. Clones has been particularly badly affected by the proximity of the border, which comes right to the edge of the town. This effective loss of much of its natural hinterland has caused Clones much suffering socially, but particularly economically, as fluctuations in currency exchange rates laid waste to the retail sector for over thirty years.

The biggest change to affect the people of Monaghan in recent years is the current re-structuring of local government, and the decentralisation of many powers and budgets to local authorities. These are not generally understood by the public, and much work remains to be done in ensuring that all have an adequate say in the new regime.

Immigration is becoming a feature of the county. Portuguese and Latvians are being brought in to work in many of the labour-intensive agri-businesses, upon which the fortunes of Co Monaghan rest so firmly. An increasing number of Romanian refugees have also made Monaghan their home, presenting housing challenges to the local Health Board, and creating a need for english language tuition.

Co Monaghan has a high rate of illiteracy among the adult population, and a high rate of early school leaving among the young. A number of community-led initiatives are seeking to break the cycle of low academic achievement and poverty, and this issue is expected to remain a priority for the county for thå forseeable future. New Adult Learning Boards are being established in each county, and schemes such as the Monaghan Town Educational Disadvantage Consortium’s GCSE Programme for early school leavers, and the Glaslough-Edenmore-Knocknagrave (KEG) national schools initiative offer models for future schemes.