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TYDAVNET

CO. MONAGHAN · IE

Tydavnet
Tigh Damhnata, Co. Monaghan

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

Tigh Damhnata · Co. Monaghan

A drumlin-country church village six kilometres north of Monaghan town - named for a 6th-century saint, twinned with Geel in Belgium over her, and quietly famous for a pair of Bronze Age gold discs and the actress Caitriona Balfe.

Tydavnet (Irish: Tigh Damhnata, "the house of Damnat") is a small church village in north Monaghan, roughly six kilometres northwest of Monaghan town. It sits in good drumlin country off the N2 Dublin-to-Derry corridor, reached on the R186 regional road, in the civil parish of the same name. The wider electoral division held just over a thousand people at the 2022 census; the village itself is a few hundred.

The place is older than it looks. The Normans plundered it in 1206 and it first appears by name on a taxation list in 1302, but the real anchor is earlier still - the early-medieval church of St Damnat, the 6th-century saint who gives the village her name. The current St Dympna's Catholic church was first built in 1730 and rebuilt in the early 1900s, but the graveyard around it is generally taken to mark the site of her original foundation. Both the Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes are called Tydavnet and cover almost the same ground.

Damnat - rendered Dympna or Davnet - is venerated as the patron of those suffering from mental illness, and her cult travelled. The Belgian town of Geel, famous for centuries of community care for the mentally ill in her name, twinned formally with Tydavnet in 1992. It is an unusual thread for a village this size: a quiet Monaghan parish linked to a European centre of psychiatric care.

Do not come expecting a tourist town. Tydavnet is a working village - a church, a graveyard, a community centre that was once the school, a pub or two, and the drumlins around it. Come for the gold-disc story (the discs themselves are in Dublin, not here), for the saint and the Geel connection, and for a quiet walk in north-Monaghan hill country. The actress Caitriona Balfe, of Outlander and Belfast, was a pupil at St Dympna's National School here, and the indie game developer Terry Cavanagh, who made VVVVVV, was born in the parish.

Population

~1,000 in the electoral division (2022); the village itself is a few hundred

Founded

Early-medieval church site of St Damnat; first recorded 1302

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The name

Tigh Damhnata - the house of Damnat.

The village is named for St Damnat (also Dympna or Davnet), a 6th-century Irish saint who is said to have founded a church here. She is venerated as the patron of those suffering from mental illness - which is why the Belgian town of Geel, the European centre of her cult, twinned with Tydavnet in 1992.

Stories & lore → 02 The treasure

A pair of Bronze Age gold discs, found in the roots of a tree.

The Tydavnet gold discs date from around 2100 BC and were turned up in the roots of an old tree. Worked with repousse, punching and doming techniques not seen on other discs like them, they are on permanent display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. Settlement here is genuinely ancient.

Stories & lore → 03 The setting

Quiet drumlin country on the R186, north of Monaghan town.

About 5.6 km northwest of Monaghan town, off the N2 corridor on the R186. Small round hills, small fields, a graveyard older than the church beside it. A Tidy Towns winner and a 2014 Pride of Place award winner that takes its appearance seriously.

Walks & outings →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The Rock Inn

Small local bar, community hub

Country pub, in the village

A small country pub in the village, under local ownership. The kind of bar that is the social centre of a parish this size - busiest at the weekend and around parish and GAA occasions. There is a second pub in the village too; between them they cover the village's drinking. Do not expect food or late hours - check before you rely on either.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A 6th-century saint, twinned in 1992

St Damnat and the link to Geel

The village is named for St Damnat, known elsewhere as Dympna or Davnet, a 6th-century Irish saint thought to have founded a church on the site of the present graveyard. She is venerated as the patron of those suffering from mental illness. The Belgian town of Geel, which built a centuries-old tradition of community care for the mentally ill around her, twinned with Tydavnet in 1992 - a remarkable connection for a village of a few hundred people, and the reason her name carries weight far past Monaghan.

circa 2100 BC

The Tydavnet gold discs

A pair of Atlantic Bronze Age gold discs, dating to around 2100 BC, were found in the roots of an old tree in the parish. Their decoration - raised lines, rows of dots and zig-zags around a central cross, worked with repousse, punching, polishing and doming - uses techniques not seen on other discs of the type. They are on permanent display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, not in the village, but they are proof that people were living and working gold here over four thousand years ago.

Built 1730, rebuilt early 1900s

St Dympna's Church

The Catholic parish church, St Dympna's, was first erected in 1730 and rebuilt in the early twentieth century, with the interior renovated in the 1990s. It is one of three Catholic churches in the parish, alongside those at Corlat and Urbleshanny. The graveyard beside it is generally considered to mark the spot of the saint's original foundation - the oldest layer of the village.

Outlander and Belfast

Caitriona Balfe

The actress Caitriona Balfe, known for the Outlander television series and an Oscar-nominated role in Belfast, was a pupil at St Dympna's National School in Tydavnet. She has spoken on US television about the support she got from home around her award nominations - a small Monaghan parish with a thread to Hollywood.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Village and graveyard A short loop around the village, the church and the old graveyard that marks the saint's foundation. More history than distance - read the Tidy Towns information board, which tells the village story, then walk the quiet roads out of the centre.

1-2 kmdistance

30-45 mintime

Drumlin roads The quiet regional and local roads through the surrounding drumlin country. Small hills, small fields, little traffic. No waymarked trail in the village itself - this is road walking in hill country, so pick a fine day and watch for the occasional car.

4-6 kmdistance

1-1.5 hourstime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The drumlins green up and the roads dry out. Good quiet walking before summer.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Settled weather and long evenings. The best stretch for the drumlin roads and an easy day-trip from Monaghan town.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Particular light over the hills, and the village quiet. A good month for the history rather than the weather.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and raw weather off the hills. The church and the pub keep going; the walking does not reward you the way it does in spring.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Coming to see the gold discs

The Tydavnet gold discs are the village's most famous possession, but they are on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, not in Tydavnet. The story is here; the objects are a two-hour drive south.

Expecting a tourist village

Tydavnet is a working north-Monaghan church village of a few hundred people - a church, a graveyard, a community centre and a pub or two. The draw is the saint, the story and the quiet country, not a streetscape of shops and cafes. Bring what you need from Monaghan town.

Getting there.

By car

Monaghan town is about ten minutes south, roughly 6 km on the R186. Tydavnet sits just off the N2 Dublin-Derry corridor, so Dublin is around 1 hour 45 minutes south and Derry about an hour and a half north. A car is the practical way to use the village.

By bus

Local Link route M1 connects Tydavnet to Monaghan town several times daily, Monday to Saturday. Beyond that, public transport is minimal - Monaghan town is the hub for onward Bus Eireann services on the N2.