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heritage · Monday 17 August 2026 · Various 
Mapping Cavan's Past - Johnston Central Library
At Johnston Central Library · Farnham Street, Cavan, Co. Cavan
At Johnston Central Library · Farnham Street, Cavan, Co. Cavan
An afternoon spent looking at old maps of the place where you live - or where your family came from - has a way of stopping time. This free Heritage Week session at Johnston Central Library in Cavan town does exactly that. Local Studies Librarian Jonathan Smyth guides a small group through the library’s historical map holdings, using technology to overlay old cartography against present-day geography so you can see what stood on a given street or townland generations ago. It suits anyone with a thread of curiosity about the county - whether you are researching a family home, doing genealogy, or simply want to understand why Cavan’s roads and settlements sit where they do.
The Local Studies collection at Johnston Central Library is one of the most significant in the country - it has been built up over ninety years and is described by the library itself as the single most important resource for the history, literature and culture of County Cavan. The map holdings alone span several centuries: Down Survey parish maps from the 1650s, Ordnance Survey six-inch sheets from the 1830s, Griffith Valuation maps, Farnham Estate maps and railway surveys. Jonathan Smyth, who has written the ‘Times Past’ history column for The Anglo-Celt since 2015, knows this material deeply and brings it to life in a way that a solo browse through the stacks cannot. Sessions are intimate - spaces are limited - so there is room for questions and for following a specific area of interest. It is a guided experience rather than a lecture, and that makes a real difference.
Cavan town sits on the N3, roughly an hour from Dublin and 40 minutes from Enniskillen. Bus Eireann runs regular services from Dublin Busaras direct to Cavan bus station, which is a short walk from Farnham Street. Johnston Central Library is on Farnham Street in the town centre, easy to find on foot from anywhere in the town. There is on-street parking on Farnham Street and in the nearby Farnham Centre car park, and paid parking is available at several points within a few minutes’ walk of the library.
Cavan town has a compact, walkable centre and the library itself shares a building with the county archive and arts office, so the area around Farnham Street tends to have something worth a look. The surrounding county - lakes, drumlins, canal towns - rewards a longer stay if you have the time. There is more to see in Cavan and across Co. Cavan.
Heading to Johnston Central Library in Cavan? Cavan has plenty more to see. Read the Cavan area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.