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This is a first-rate, award winning museum
providing well lit displays filled with artefacts and depictions which bring to
life a legacy that stretches back to stone age hunter/gatherers of 8,000 years
ago. Its commitment to excellence is
evident even before the visitor leaves the first neolithic settlers and moves
on to the Metal Ages, the Iron Lords, early Christian Ireland, and the Gaelic
chiefs. And no surprise to learn that
this compact educational jewel has received numerous awards, such as the Council
of Europe Museum Prize and the Museum of the Year Award for Best Collections
Care...and all this in a town of just over 6,000 people.
But what the curators are really excited
about are the recent digs at Carrickmacross where well-preserved remains of dwellings
were unearthed as a result of new road construction. Among the ruins was
evidence of three houses dating between 3900-3700 B.C, a double ditch ring fort
of the 7th century A.D. and a burial plot with some 20 bodies from
the early Medieval period (7th to 8th century A.D.).
No wonder, then, that the museum in
association with the National Roads Authority presented a major exhibition of
the results from these 2003 bypass excavations, titled “Life and Death in
Monaghan.” To go with it, the museum designed
and produced a state of the art brochure that will be a treasured keepsake.
As the museum states in its literature, it
does, indeed, seem to be “at the heart of the community, reflecting not just
where we have come from but where we are going.”
How
to get there:
From Dublin, take N2; from Belfast, take A3
to Monaghan Town. The museum is located across from the Market House, a town
landmark on Park Street.
Hours:
Monday – Friday 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday—12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, closed Sunday
Admission:
free
Address:
Monaghan County Museum
1-2 Hill Street
Monaghan Town, Co. Monaghan
T: 047 82928
www.monaghan.ie/museum
www.monaghantourism.com
Written by Joy Davis - Summer of Travel 2007
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