Dartrey Forest, County Monaghan

County Monaghan

County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 was formerly the estate of the Dawson family, who had the title "Earl of Dartrey

Earl of Dartrey

Earl of Dartrey, of Dartrey in the County of Monaghan, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for Richard Dawson, 3rd Baron Cremorne. The Dawson family descended from Richard Dawson, a Dublin banker who also represented County Monaghan in the Irish House of Commons...

" from 1866 to 1933. It is currently managed by Coillte

Coillte Teoranta

Coillte is a state-sponsored company in the Republic of Ireland, based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte is a commercial company operating in forestry, land-based businesses and added-value processing operations....

 as a commercial forest. The Forest is bordered by a Famine wall which stretches half way along the road from Cootehill

Cootehill

Cootehill, known before the Plantation of Ulster as Munnilly , is a prominent market town in County Cavan, Ireland.-History:Cootehill was established as a market town in 1725 when a charter was obtained to hold markets and fairs, and developed strong ties to the Irish linen industry...

 to Rockcorry

Rockcorry

Rockcorry, historically known as Buagher or Boyher , is a village in County Monaghan, Ireland, set on the outskirts of Dartrey forest. It is situated on the R188 road which links Cootehill to Monaghan town.-History:...

. The landscape of the forest and surrounding area is particularly beautiful, being composed of a series of lakes joined by the Dromore River. A description from 1844 states "the banks of the Cootehill (Dromore) River, for several miles above the town, furnish a constant series of very rich close landscapes, chiefly of the class which may be designated languishingly beautiful." The lakes have a number of crannóg

Crannog

A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland,...

s which provided traditional fortification until possibly the late 16th century and perhaps helped facilitate trade with settlements up stream. Between the lakes is a large island of considerable beauty

Beauty

Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...

 where a temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 of architectural significance has suffered much decay over the years. Designed by James Wyatt

James Wyatt

James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...

 in 1770, it is modeled on the Pantheon, Rome

Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...

 and is according to John R. Redmill DipArch FRIAI RIAI RIBA

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

, a leading Irish architectural conservation

Architectural conservation

Architectural conservation describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of mankind's built heritage are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The individual engaged in this pursuit is known as an architectural conservator...

ist "one of the most important 18th century buildings in Ireland". Although roofless for the last 40 years, historic preservation

Historic preservation

Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...

 and restoration efforts are being undertaken by the local Dartrey Heritage

Cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...

 Association. (see link below for image of Temple)

Dartrey Kingdom

The location was once part of the wider region of Dartrey (Dartraighe

Dartraighe

Dartraighe , anglicized as Dartree, Dartry or Dartrey, was a kingdom in ancient Ireland which stretched north to Clones and south to beyond the Dromore river, once belonging to the O'Boylans and McMahons....

, Dartraige Coininnsi, Dairtre, Dartree, Dartry

Dartry

Dartry is a suburb of Dublin. Among the locations in Dartry are Dartry Road, Temple Road, Orwell Park, and Palmerston Park.-Dartry Road:In the part of Dartry Road between Palmerston Park and Temple Road is located Trinity Hall, the most prominent student residence for students of the University of...

) Kingdom which stretched north to Clones

Clones

Clones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the 'border area' of the Republic of Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation...

, belonging to the McMahons and O'Boylans. The name is derived from the Dartraige, the ‘calf people’ who were an early Irish tribe that dwelt in and around the area of north Roscommon

County Roscommon

County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...

, east Sligo, west Leitrim

County Leitrim

County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...

 and southern Monaghan. It was a sub-kingdom of the larger federated Kingdom of Airgíalla

Airgíalla

Airgíalla or Airgialla was the name of an Irish federation and Irish kingdom which first formed around the 7th century...

, which at one stage stretched from Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...

 to Lough Erne

Lough Erne

Lough Erne, sometimes Loch Erne , is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern lake is further up the river and so is named Upper...

 and from Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

 to Louth. The status of the king (and queen) of Airghialla was such that they sat beside the High King at Tara at great gatherings, and his sword was allowed to touch the High Kings hand - a sign of trust. The larger kingdoms territory decreased as the area took on a more ecclesiastical power structure from Armagh

Armagh

Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...

 and allied with the with Northern and Southern Ui Neill

Uí Néill

The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....

 who dominated the political sphere serving as High King of Ireland

High King of Ireland

The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

 from the Hill of Tara

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

. It was further reduced by the conquest of the Normans

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 in the 12th century. The Book of Rights list the tribes of the Airgíalla in the 5th century and their entitlements from the king of Airgialla. The following poem was composed by the bard

Bard

In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...

Benén to preserve these rights and benefits.

Benén's Poem

1. This difficulty rests upon the descendants of the Collas,
the bright host of Liathdruim,

that they do not know the amount of their stipend,
from the king of bright Fuaid.

2. Here is the tradition—I shall relate it for you—
of the descendants of gentle Cairpre:

learn, people of Fál of the fiana,
the handsome stipends of the Airgialla...

16. The king of Dartraige, a flame of valour,
is entitled to four bondsmen of great labor,

four swords hard in battle, four horses,
and four golden shields...

20. Here is the tradition of the hosts,
whom Benén always loved:

it is a great difficulty to all the learned,
save him who is expert in testimony.

as Gaeilge (original)

1. In cheist sea for chloind Cholla
for sluag luchair Liathdroma

can fis a tuarastail tall
ó ríg Fuaid na find-fearand.


2. Atá sund, sloindfed-sa daíb
senchos cloindi Cairpri chaím:

cluinid, a lucht Fáil na fian,
tuaristla áilli Airgiall.


16. Dligid rí Dartraigi, in daig,
ceithri mogaid mórastair,

ceithri claidim chruaidi i cléith,
ceithri heich, ceithri hór-scéith.


20. Atá sund senchas na slóg
dá tuc grád co bráth Beneón;

acht int í bus treórach teist
ar cach n-eólach is ard-cheist. IN.

External links

• Dartrey Heritage, Dartrey Forest Description
• Dartrey Forest Walks Celtic Maps. See "The Golden Age" map with churches linked to Armagh
• Airgialla History, Map and Kingdom, Airgialla Law Poems, The Annals entries for Dartraige (869-1505)
• The McMahon Story
• Benen's Poem, from Lebor na Cert or Book of Rights The Book of RightsLebor na Cert (in Irish)
• Old Irish version of Benen's Poem, with more direct translation, Dartraidhe Coinn innsi (Google books pages 146-154)
• [ftp://ftp.ucc.ie/pub/celt/texts/G100001C.txt UCC Irish text(ftp), The Annals of Ulster, see Dartraighi]
• Dartrey Forest is at coordinates 54.0986°N 7.0716°W