Gaelic Cavan 1300–1607 Cavan was founded by the
Irish clan chief and Lord of
East Breifne, Giolla Íosa Ruadh O’Reilly, between 1300 and his death in 1330. During his lordship, a
friary run by the
Dominican Order was established close to the O’Reilly stronghold at Tullymongan and was at the centre of the settlement close to a crossing over the river and to the town's marketplace. It is recorded that the (Cavan) Dominicans were expelled in 1393, replaced by an Order of Conventual
Franciscan friars. The friary's location is marked by an eighteenth-century tower in the graveyard at Abbey Street which appears to incorporate remains of the original medieval friary tower. The imprint of the medieval town can be followed in the area of Abbey Street, Bridge Street and Main Street (townlands of Tullymongan Upper and Lower). Clan O'Reilly later built a new castle in the late fourteenth century on Tullymongan Hill, overlooking the town centre. In the 15th century, the local ruler, Bearded Owen O'Reilly, expanded the town marketplace which attracted merchants from
Dublin and
Drogheda. The phrase "life of Reilly" is believed to derive from the great wealth and power of the Chief of Clan O'Reilly, some of which came from the market. The Chiefs also allowed, however, counterfeit English and Scottish coins to be minted in their territory at this time. During the
Elizabethan era religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop
Dermot O'Hurley, who would be one of the most celebrated of the 24
Irish Catholic Martyrs, was covertly sheltered by
Thomas Fleming, 10th Baron Slane at
Slane Castle, where the Archbishop was allegedly concealed inside a
priest hole, but from whence O'Hurley covertly travelled to and from Cavan to visit with some fellow priests whom he had known while living in
Catholic Europe. In February 1690, during the
Glorious Revolution, the
Battle of Cavan took place after Williamite Inniskillinger forces led by Colonel William Wolseley attacked the strategic fort overlooking Cavan town at Tullamongan which was held then by the Duke of Berwick Jacobite army. During the battle much of the town was burned by Colonel Wolseley's soldiers and Jacobite general
William Nugent was killed. Later, during the 18th century, local administrative influence and power passed to the Maxwell family, descendants of
Robert Maxwell,
Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore (1643–1672), a family who later entered the
peerage as
Baron Farnham. Farnham House, located at Farnham, a small rural district to the north-west of Cavan, is one of the largest
country houses in the county. It was built for
Barry Maxwell, 3rd Lord Farnham (later created, by the second creation,
Earl of Farnham), head of the Maxwell dynasty, around 1780. The house was designed by
James Wyatt. It was extended in 1810 to the design of
Francis Johnston, a
County Armagh-born, but Dublin-based, architect. It was sold by Diana, Lady Farnham (widow of
Barry Maxwell, 12th Lord Farnham), to a local entrepreneur in 2001, and the house and estate has per 2006 been converted into a luxury hotel and leisure complex under the
Radisson SAS international hotel group. Developments in Cavan during the early 19th century saw the building of a new wide street that still bears the name 'Farnham Street'. This was lined with comfortable town houses, public buildings (such as
Cavan Courthouse which dates from 1824) and churches. From the mid-19th century, Cavan became an important rail junction for the
Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) and those of the
Great Northern Railway (GNR).
Cavan Town Hall was built between 1908 and 1910.
20th century The area saw little violence during the
1920-22 troubles in Ulster. In 1938, work began on the
Cathedral of Saints Patrick and Felim; the original Kilmore cathedral was built c.1455, as the main church of the
Catholic Diocese of Kilmore located around five kilometres (3 mi) south-west of Cavan Town, on the
R198. During the
Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century, this church became the main
Church of Ireland Kilmore Diocese church known as St. Feidhlimidh Cathedral. A new
Kilmore Cathedral church was built in 1860 and dedicated to the memory of Bishop
William Bedell who died and was buried here in 1642. Bedell was also famously noted for his translation of the old testament Bible into the Irish language. The present Cathedral contains a Hiberno
Romanesque doorway dating from c. 1170, in the twelfth century, conjectured locally
(but unlikely) originally to have come from Holy Trinity priory located a short distance away upon Trinity Island in
Lough Oughter. Holy Trinity priory was built mid-thirteenth century. A short distance from the Kilmore Cathedral is the
See House, a late
Georgian-style house constructed in the 1830s. This house, designed by
William Farrell, was formerly the official residence (or "Bishop's Palace") of the
Church of Ireland Bishops of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. On 23 February 1943, a
fire at St Joseph's Orphanage in the town claimed the lives of 35 children and an elderly woman. A
public inquiry found no culpability on the part of the nuns who ran the orphanage, but the circumstances surrounding the high death toll in the fire remain controversial to this day. The secretary of the Commission of Enquiry, Brian O'Nolan, is better known to posterity as the writer
Flann O'Brien. The former Cavan Town
Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks was demolished in 1968. Its successor stood on the corner of Farnham Street (also known as Casement Street, named after
Sir Roger Casement) and Abbey Street. The current
Garda Station is further along Farnham Street, just across from the Courthouse.
21st century In the 1990s and 2000s Cavan town expanded rapidly with extensive urban regeneration and suburban expansion. It is one of the main economic hubs of the north central part of Ireland and has an extensive range of financial services, legal, medical, industrial and retail enterprises. Adjacent to the Courthouse is the Cavan Central Library building constructed in 2006. The entrance is dominated by an aquarium, with commissioned
bog oak sculptures by local artist Joey Burns that portray Cavan history. An arts feature based on ''
Gulliver's Travels enriches the interior space, and two large paintings by award-winning author PJ Lynch were commissioned by Cavan Library Service, in a lasting tribute to Jonathan Swift and to Cavan where Gulliver's Travels'' was written. ==Transport==