Cavan is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is on the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ballyshannon and Donegal Town (to the north).

Cavan Town Hall

The Town Hall was designed by William A. Scott (1871–1921), the well-known Dublin-based architect from Drogheda, for the then Cavan Urban District Council. The hall was constructed between November 1908 and late 1909, with it being officially opened on Wednesday, 19 January 1910. The building was officially opened by Mrs. Henrietta Smith (who also laid the foundation stone), wife of Councillor Louis C.P. Smith, the Chairman of Cavan Urban District Council at that time. The relatively small and unostentatious Town Hall, located on Townhall Street, is built of sandstone from a quarry at Latt, on the northern edge of Cavan Town, while the original slates came from near Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary. The building appears to be designed and built in a version of the Arts and Crafts style of architecture. It underwent significant redecoration and refurbishment in the 1980s, under the direction of Cavan architect Philip Cullivan. Each March, since 1946, the Town Hall has played host to the Cavan International Drama Festival, a competition which has always drawn the finest in amateur drama. After the abolition of Cavan Town Council left the building empty in 2014, the building reopened in 2015 as the local arts centre, under the name ‘Townhall Cavan’.

Tourism and events

All-Ireland Fleadh

In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Cavan Town hosted the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.^[19] The 2010 Fleadh was held from 16 to 22 August. The Fleadh is the premier annual Irish traditional music, song and dance festival and series of competitions, which is run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ). Fleadh 2010 was the 50th annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, and the first to be carbon neutral. That year it returned to Cavan for the first time since 1954. Up to 250,000 visitors attend the annual Fleadhann, and about 10,000 musicians compete. It is also estimated that the annual All-Ireland Fleadh generates €20-€25 million for the local economy of its host town.

Heritage and tourism development

In the County Heritage Plan 2006–2011, published by Cavan County Council, a guiding principle was stated as: “The unique and diverse heritage of County Cavan is conserved, sustained and, above all, cherished and celebrated by the people of the County”. Located in Ireland’s lakelands, the wildlife and wetlands environment of County Cavan’s loughs reputedly offers opportunities for sustainable tourism development. Lough Oughter and Killykeen, located a few kilometres from Cavan town, has some infrastructure for ecotourism development