Castleblayney

Sister cities

• Marseillan

History

The area was originally known as Baile na Lorgan ("town of the long low ridge"), anglicised as 'Ballynalurgan'. It was also sometimes called Caisleán Mathghamhna ('MacMahon Castle' or 'Castle MacMahon'). The town of Castleblayney originated in the Tudor conquest of Gaelic Ulster in the Nine Years' War of 1594–1603. In 1611, the Crown granted forfeited lands in the area previously ruled by the Mac Mathghamhna (MacMahon) chieftains to Sir Edward Blayney, from Montgomeryshire in Wales, for his service to Queen Elizabeth I. Sir Edward was later created The 1st Baron Blayney, in July 1621. King James VI & I had already granted him appropriated Augustinian church land (or 'termon') at Muckno Friary on the northeastern side of the lake in the Churchill area (Mullandoy) in 1606/7. The small town 'founded' by Sir Edward Blayney in 1611 or 1612 is recorded as being called Castleblayney at least as early as 1663. In 1762 a demonstration occurred in the town accompanied by a threatening military presence. This was connected with the 'Oakboys' movement that was active in the county. The protest was about compulsory work – to repair public roads as well as private roads and avenues in demesnes owned by the gentry – that was exacted from agricultural labourers for no wages. The modern planned town – reminiscent of Plantation towns with its characteristic wide main street and with long, narrow individual gardens to the rear and out of sight – dates from c. 1830. The modern town was largely laid out under the direction of The 11th Baron Blayney (1770–1834), who inherited the family peerage and the large Blayney Estate as an adolescent in 1784. By about 1800, the then young Lord Blayney had ordered and implemented major reforms in Castleblayney, greatly improving the prosperity and…

Geography

The town lies above the western shore of Lough Muckno, the largest lake in County Monaghan. The River Fane flows eastwards from the lake to the Irish Sea at Dundalk in County Louth. As the Irish name of the lake ('the place where pigs swim') suggests, the area is associated with the Black Pig's Dyke, also known locally in parts of Counties Cavan and Monaghan as the Worm Ditch, an ancient Iron Age boundary of Ulster. A few miles to the north-east is the highest elevation in County Monaghan, 'Mullyash', at altitude 317 m (1,034 ft). Castleblayney is north-west of Dundalk.