an inland county in the province of Ulster, in Ireland, situated between 53° 43′—54° 7′ N. Lat., and 6° 45′—7° 47′ W. Long.; bounded N. by Fermanagh and Monaghan, E. by Monaghan and Meath, S. by Meath, Westmeath, and Longford, and W. by Longford and Leitrim. Area 746 square miles, or 477,360 acres, of which 375,473 are arable, 71,918 uncultivated, 7325 in plantations, 502 in towns, and 22,142 under water.

The most ancient geographers describe this and the adjacent counties of Leitrim and Fermanagh as occupied by the tribe of the Erdini. At the period of the English settlement, and for some centuries afterwards, it was known by the name of the Brenny, or O'Reilly's country; and its inhabitants, protected by the nature of the country, long maintained their independence. In 1584 Cavan was formed into a county of Ulster by Sir John Perrott, lord-deputy of Ireland, and subdivided into seven baronies, two of which were assigned to Sir John O'Reilly free of all contributions, and three to other members of the family; while the two remaining baronies, possessed by the septs of Mackernon and Macgauran, and situated in the mountains bordering on O'Rorke's country, were left subject to their ancient tenures and the exactions of their Irish lord, the crown reserving 200 beeves upon the whole county for the lord-deputy's provision. There was also an ancient subdivision, peculiar to this county, into polls, each of which contained about 25 acres. Early in the reign of James I., a commission of inquiry was issued concerning all lands in several counties of Ulster, escheated to the crown by attainder, outlawry, or actual death in rebellion, by which the greater portion of this county was deemed to be vested in the crown, and its exact state thereupon investigated. Under the consequent project for the new plantation of Ulster, the county was distributed among the undertakers, British planters, servitors, natives, and ecclesiastics, &c. &c. The principal English and Scotch families settled in Cavan were the Auchmuties, Baillies, Butlers, Hamiltons, Lamberts, Parsons, and Ridgeways. The county is now divided into eight baronies—Castlerahan, Clanmabon, Cloonkee, Loughtee Lower and Upper, Tullygarvey, Tullyhaw, and Tullyhunco. It is almost entirely within the diocese of Kilmore, and contains thirty-six parishes and parts of parishes. In military arrangements it is in the Belfast district; and there are barracks for cavalry at Belturbet, and for infantry at Cavan, where also the staff of the county militia is stationed. The headquarters of the constabulary force, consisting of 419 men and officers, are at Cavan; those of the eight districts, comprising thirty-nine stations, at Cavan, Arva, Ballyjamesduff, Bailieborough, Cooteshill, Belturbet, Swanlinbar, and Killeshandra. The revenue police stations are at Belturbet and Bailieborough. The assizes are held at Cavan, where the county prison and the county infirmary are situated. There is a loan fund at Ballyjamesduff, and a savings-bank established in 1830 at Cavan. There are four union workhouses within the county—Bailieborough, Bawnboy, Cavan, and Cooteshill; but portions of the county are comprised in the unions of Enniskillen, Granard, and Oldcastle. The amount of property valued under the Act 6th and 7th Will. IV., cap. 84. (Griffith's valuation), is £247,817, and the net annual value of property rated to the poor is £248,415. The chief towns are Cavan, pop. (in 1851) 3254, Cooteshill 2105, and Belturbet 2054. Prior to the Union it contributed six members to the Irish parliament, two for the county at large, and two for each of the boroughs of Cavan and Belturbet; but since that period it has been represented in the imperial parliament by two county members only. The constituency under 13th and 14th Vict., cap. 69, in 1851, numbered 3850.

The remains of antiquity in this county are few in number and unimportant in interest. They consist of cairns, raths, and the ruins of small castles.

The surface of the country is uneven, consisting of hill and dale, without any great extent of level ground, but only in its northern extremity attaining a mountainous elevation. The barony of Tullaghagh, bordering on Fermanagh, a wild dreary mountain district, known as the kingdom of Glen or Glengavelin, contains the highest land in the county, called Slieve Russel. In the same barony is Quilca mountain, the place of inauguration for the Macguires, chieftains of Fermanagh, held in great veneration by the peasantry, in connection with legends and ancient superstitions. The remainder of the county is occasionally not deficient in wood, and adorned by numerous lakes, generally of small dimensions, but of much interest for their picturesque beauty, more especially Lough Oughter, which lies between the towns of Cavan and Killeshandra. Though not of very imposing size, the irregularity of its form, the large and beautiful islands imbedded in its waters, and the many deep recesses studded with overhanging woods that wind among its high banks, produce a rich variety of prospect. The water of the lakes is generally very clear, and they abound with fish. The chief river in the county is the Erne, which originates in the Lake of Scrabby, one of the minor sheets of water communicating with Lough Gownagh, on the borders of Longford. The river takes a northerly direction by Killeshandra and Belturbet, being enlarged during its course by the Annalee and other smaller streams, and finally enters Lough Erne near the northern limit of the county. The other waters, consisting of numerous lakes and their connecting streams, are mostly tributary to the Erne. The great river Shannon is by some supposed to have its source in a copious spring called the Shannon Pot, at the foot of the Cnialagh mountain, in the barony of Tullaghagh. The Blackwater, a tributary to the Boyne, also rises in this county, near Bailieborough. The main roads are kept in good order, but the cross roads are frequently ill planned and in bad condition. The line of railway in progress (1854) from Mullingar to Cavan and Enniskillen will pass through the county.

The climate of this county is cold but salubrious; the dampness, arising from its numerous lakes and the nature of the soil, being much dispelled by the boisterous weather which frequently prevails, more especially in the higher districts.

The south-eastern portion of Cavan rests upon clay-slate, and the remainder of the county upon the carboniferous limestone formation. A rich iron ore was formerly raised from Quilca mountain. The ore was smelted at Swanlinbar, but the works were ultimately relinquished in consequence of the failure of timber for fuel. Indications of lead, silver, and sulphur have been observed; and fuller's earth, pipe-clay, potters' clay, and brick-clay are frequently met with in Tullaghagh barony, in which there are also indications of coal. Several mineral springs exist in this county, the chief of which is near the once-frequented village of Swanlinbar. Its constituents are carbonic, muriatic, and sulphuric acids, combined with soda and a little lime. It acts as a diuretic, and is considered serviceable in diseases of the skin, kidneys, and bladder, and also in gout. In the neighbourhood of Belturbet, near the small lake of Annagh, is a carbonated chalybeate, resembling the crescent well of Harrowgate, beneficially used in cases of relaxation and debility, and especially in dyspepsia. There are several other springs of less importance: and the small Lough Leighs, or Lough-an-Leighghas, which signifies the healing lake, on the summit of a mountain between Bailieborough and Kingscourt, is celebrated for its antiseptic properties. Its waters are used for drinking and bathing; but the most beneficial effects are said to be produced by the local application of the tenacious mud raised from the bottom of the lake. The level of the lake never varies. It has no visible supply nor vent for its discharge; neither is it ever frozen during the severest winters. The water at the surface is clear; but within a foot downwards it becomes clogged with mud, which thickens as the depth increases. The mud is drawn up for medicinal purposes by means of a pole with a hay rope twisted round it, to which the mud adheres, exhibiting a greasy shining surface like tar.

The chief manufacture is the weaving and bleaching of linen, which is carried on by the peasantry, in combination with agricultural occupations; but the combination is not to the advantage of either branch. There are also extensive distilleries. Illicit distillation was formerly carried on to a great extent, the lakes affording great facilities for its practice. The grain was steeped in them, and the portable and cheap apparatus employed was set up close to their shores, so that in case of alarm the whole could be flung into the water at a moment's notice, and remain concealed until raised again for future service.

The soil is generally a stiff wet clay, cold and spongy, but capable of much improvement by drainage, for which its undulating surface affords facilities of which little advantage has been taken. Agriculture is in a backward state, the farms being generally small, the tenures short and unsatisfactory, and the modes of culture generally defective. In the mountainous parts, where the land is chiefly under grazing, the farms are more extensive. The number of holdings in 1851 was 21,495, of which 1202 were of less than 5 acres, 9100 between 5 and 15 acres, 6546 between 15 and 30 acres, 3081 above 30 acres, and the remaining 756 not exceeding one acre. The extent of land under crops in 1847 was 158,366 acres, and in 1853, 176,591, viz.—wheat, 650; oats, 89,929; barley, bere, rye, pease and beans, 2883; potatoes, 27,734; turnips, 4528; mangel-wurzel, vetches, and other green crops, 3840; flax, 12,106; meadow and clover, 34,921. The culture of potatoes and flax has increased during the last few years, but other crops show little variation; that of wheat, however, as in the rest of Ireland, being on the decline. The live stock contained within the county in 1852 amounted to 10,043 horses, 9338 mules and asses, 92,690 cattle, 16,167 sheep, 24,715 pigs, 14,024 goats, 328,241 poultry, of the total value of £1,757,943. The estimated value of the live stock in 1841 was £1,492,506. The soil in those districts not well adapted for tillage is peculiarly favourable for trees. The woods were formerly very considerable, and the timber found in the bogs is of large dimensions; but plantations are now chiefly found in demesnes, where they are extensive; and the bareness of the landscape, too long a glaring drawback on the natural beauties of the county, is gradually becoming less observable.

There being but three towns in the county containing more than 2000 inhabitants, the population is chiefly rural, and increased at the rate of 17 per cent. between 1821-31, and 7 per cent. between 1831-41; since which period the numbers have rapidly declined, so that the decrease between 1841-51 has amounted to 28 per cent. The following are the numbers according to the census returns:

| Year | No. of Souls | Increase | Decrease | |------|--------------|----------|---------| | 1821 | 185,076 | | | | 1831 | 227,033 | 32,957 | | | 1841 | 243,158 | 15,225 | | | 1851 | 174,071 | | 69,087 |

The population of the county of Cavan is less mixed in race than in most parts of Ulster, being generally of Celtic extraction. The dwellings of the peasantry are miserable in appearance, and form a striking contrast to the seats of the resident gentry, which are numerous and elegant. Lord Farnham has a noble mansion at Cavan; and at Kilmore is the bishop's palace, a modern building.

In 1851 there were 174 national schools in operation, attended by 15,097 children, 8085 males and 7012 females. At the same period the state of education among the population exceeding the age of five years was as follows:

| Rural districts | Civic districts | Total | Proper proportion per cent. in census of 1841 | |-----------------|----------------|-------|-----------------------------------------------| | Could read and write | 16,079 | 1234 | 17,313 | 22 | 14 | | Could read only | 20,502 | 829 | 21,331 | 27 | 26 | | Could neither read nor write | 38,791 | 1453 | 40,244 | 51 | 60 |

About two-thirds of the entire population are Roman Catholics; the remaining third belong to the Established church, with the exception of a small number of Dissenters.

capital of the county of the same name, and previous to the Union a parliamentary borough, has little to command special notice. It is situated near the centre of the county, on one of the tributary streams of the Anale river, in a large valley surrounded on every side by elevated ground, with picturesque environs, adorned by the mansions and demesnes of Lord Farnham and the Bishop of Kilmore. The town, which in 1851 contained 3254 inhabitants, is of unpretending and rather humble appearance. The court-house, erected at an expense of £1,11,000, is elegant in its proportions and convenient in its internal arrangements. The parish church, built on an elevated site, is also a graceful structure. The most conspicuous building is the grammar-school, founded by Charles I. It was rebuilt in 1819, at an expense of £9,000, on an eminence overlooking one of the main entrances into the town. It is a large and handsome edifice, capable of accommodating one hundred resident pupils, but has never yet contained more than one-fourth of that number. The master enjoys a salary of £300 per annum, besides fees from Cavanilles pupils, &c., and the use of ten acres of land adjoining the house. The other public buildings are the Roman Catholic chapel and Dissenters' meeting-houses; the county gaol and infirmary; a barrack; and the union workhouse. Cavan has still some linen trade, and a considerable retail business is transacted in the town, which was incorporated by a royal charter of the 8th of James I., now extinct. It is the seat of a presbytery of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in Ireland; but the great majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics. A monastery of Dominican friars, founded by O'Reilly chieftain of the Brenny, formerly existed here, and became the burial place of the celebrated Irish general, Owen O'Neal, who died as is supposed by poison, in 1649, at Cloughoughter. This monastery, and all the other antiquities of the town, have been swept away during the violent and continuous feuds to which the country has been subjected. Even so late as the year 1690 the chief portion of the town was burned by the Enniskilleners under General Wolsey. Cavan is distant 70 miles N.W. by N. from Dublin.