County Monaghan

County Monaghan (: Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in the. It is one of three counties situated in the province of without being part of. The name comes from the Irish, derived from Muine Cheain meaning the Land of the little hills. This name refers to the density of s in the area, those small hills formed from action (during a previous ).

The county borders (Northern Ireland) to the north,  (NI) to the east,  (Republic of Ireland) to the southeast,  (ROI) to the south,  (ROI) to the southwest and  (NI) to the west.

There is a jutting into Fermanagh in the western area of the county.

is the principal town. Other major towns include, , and.

Monaghan is the birthplace of the and writer, who based much of his work in the county. Kavanagh is one of the most significant figures in mid 20th century. The poems Stony Grey  and Shancoduff refer to the county.

Twinning
County Monaghan is twinned with the Province of in. At least 20% of the population of Prince Edward Island can trace ancestry to Co Monaghan as a result of migration from Monaghan to that part of Canada during the years 1820-1840. Co Monaghan is also twinned with the City of in  and also with the City of  in Ontario and with the township of Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan in Ontario.

It also has links with in, as a result of the martyrdom there in the 5th century of St , a local Monaghan saint who is regarded as Patroness of those with mental illness.

The following places are twinned with Co. Monaghan:
 * [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|]],.
 * [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|]], ,.
 * [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|]] City of, ,.

Geography
There are several mountains in the county:, (on the border with  and ) and  (214 m).

There are also a large number of lakes, including, , , , (in ), ,  and.

Rivers in Monaghan include the (in the southeast of the county and along the border with Louth),  (along the  and  borders), the  (along the border with Tyrone, ) and  (along the border of, linking  to ).

Monaghan also has a number of, including , and. Managed by since 1988, the majority of  are. Due to a long history of practices and recent intensive forestry practices only small pockets of native woodland remain.

Towns and villages
Towns with legally defined boundaries are shown in italics.
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)
 * , (or Smithboro)