County Cavan, Ireland
Originally part of the ancient kingdom of Bréifne, this inland county contains the towns of Cavan, Bailieborough, Virginia, Belturbet, and Ballyjamesduff. It is the southern-most province of traditional Ulster, and measures approximately 47 miles long by 23 miles across. It is bounded to the west by Leitrim, to the north by Fermanagh and Monaghan, to the east by the latter county and Louth, and to the south by Longword, West Meath and East Meath.
This part of Bréifne was ruled by the O'Reillys, from the town of Cavan, and as a result was called Bréifne O'Reilly. The other part of Bréifne, County Leitrim, was known as Bréifne O'Rourke, for the ruling clan there. In addition to the O'Reillys, other prominent families in Cavan are Brady, O'Mulleady, McGovern, Sheridan, O'Farrelly, McKiernan, O'Curry, O'Clery, McIlduff, and of course, Lawlor,s, O,Lalors, and Smith.
The Celtic origin of Cavan is "cabhán," meaning "hollow" or "little hill", an apt description of the countryside, especially towards the northwest, where the landscape is covered by drumlins -- oval clay hills of glacial origin between 80 to 100 feet high. In between these rolling hills, the valleys are poorly drained, with extensive bogs, swamps and lakes. This geography also helped the O'Reilly Clan retain control in County Cavan even after the Norman arrival in Ireland in 1169. The difficulty of traversing the Cavan terrain, with its many forests, hidden valleys, watery bogs and lakes, combined with the skill of the O'Reilly cavalry, and the intractability of the local residents, kept the Norman invaders successfully at bay for several centuries. In fact, the O'Reillys maintained their independence from later English rule until the rebellions of the early 1600s.
When the Catholic Confederacy was finally defeated by Cromwell in 1649, the Catholic lands in Cavan were confiscated and given to English soldiers and others loyal to the British crown. In the midst of these battles, the famine swept through County Cavan. In 1841, the population in Cavan was 243,000, and by 1851 it had dropped to 174,000. With emigration, famine deaths, and occupation by the British, the population of Cavan would drop to a low of 55,000. However, the census of 1861 shows that it was still overwhelmingly Catholic (81 percent) with the remaining population divided between Presbyterians and members of the Church of Ireland.