Essential Ireland > County Cavan > Cavan

The town of Cavan is the county town of County Cavan in the north of the country and it is found near to the border with Northern Ireland. The little visited town has a name meaning ‘the hollow’ and is well positioned in close proximity to the plethora of Loughs for which the county is known and that give it its ‘lake county’ nickname. Indeed, there are something like 350 lakes in the county, and so visitors looking to enjoy some beautiful scenery or make the most of the water find themselves in a good location here.

It was long ago in the 13th century that the O’Reilly clan first established a castle in the area around Cavan and a Franciscan Monastery shortly followed to form the backbone for the society. By the 15th century a market had been set up and this attracted merchants from far and wide, even from Dublin no less. By 1610 King James had issued a charter for the town while the 19th century brought about plenty of developments such as wider roads as well as additional buildings. An important rail junction was opened up in Cavan during the 19th century too while towards the beginning of the 20th century a town hall was constructed.

The traditional structures of the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland building stand near each other in Cavan while on the outskirts there are two other historic buildings; Kilmore Cathedral is positioned around three miles away while the sizeable Farnham House was thought to have been built in 1810 and now houses the Radisson Farnham Estate Hotel. Visitors can make the most of the town walks which tour people around the paths, streets and surroundings, helping them explore and understand the history and the present.

Each March and April Cavan holds two festivals. Firstly, the County Cavan Drama Festival takes place in the town while the Traditional Arts Festival also takes centre stage during the spring. Further in 2010 the town hosted the All-Ireland Fleadh which brought traditional Irish music, song and dance to Cavan in a cultural extravaganza.