Along with County Leitrim, County Cavan is part of the medieval kingdom of Breifne and was ruled by the Ui Raghallach clan, commonly known/pronounced in English as O'Reilly. The O'Reilly's ruled out of Cavan and were in constant competition with the O'Rourkes who ruled over County Leitrim to the west (also part of the kingdom of Breifne). The O'Reilly's did so well for themselves that the term "Living the Life of Reilly" was born . . . or so claims the museum in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan.
Though there isn't much to do in County Cavan, I found the aforementioned museum quite informative, as well as affordable. For three Euro you learn quite a bit about the county. For instance, prior to the potato blight (circa 1847) the county had about 250,000 residents. When the blight was over, the numbers were reduced to around 170,000 people. Today, there are just over 50,000 residents and boasts to be the most sparsely populated county on the island. This was mostly due to economic reasons. Thus, living the life of Reilly is no longer as lavish as it once was.
The above picture is from the museum as well. It is known as the Corleck Head - a stone carved with three different faces one on each side. As the exhibit rotates the stone, you can see the distinctly different expressions on each of the faces. The meaning and use of the object is unknown, but reinforces the Celtic belief in the power of the number 3.
Finally, I discovered that County Cavan is the home of Edgar Allen Poe's ancestors which emigrated to the United States in the mid 1700's. The ancestral home is at Kildallon, Killeshandra, County Cavan. I did not drive out to visit it. As far as I know it's not open to the public.
So, though I wouldn't place County Cavan high on my recommendations list, if you're in the area (or if you're an O'Reilly) I'd definitely stop by Ballyjamesduff and visit the museum.
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