Editing Carrickmacross (section)

==History==
===Foundation and development===
Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a castle built by the [[Earl of Essex]] in 1630. The Convent of St Louis now stands on the original castle site, as the castle itself was destroyed in the late 17th century during the [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite Wars]].<ref name="history1">{{cite web|url = https://www.carrickmacross.ie/history | website = carrickmacross.ie| publisher = Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District| title = Carrickmacross History | access-date = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

The town developed further as a market town during the 18th century,<ref name="history1"/> and a number of large municipal and religious buildings were built to serve the growing population during the 19th century.<ref name="history1"/> The town experienced population decline in mid- to late-19th century, during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]],<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.aboutireland.ie/carrickmacross.htm | website = aboutireland.ie | title = Carrickmacross | access-date = 18 February 2020 }}</ref> with the population decreasing from 2,063 in 1861 to 1,779 inhabitants by 1891.<ref name="history1"/> The town's Poor Law Union Workhouse and Fever Hospital were built in this period - the latter later becoming the offices of the Urban District Council which was originally formed in 1899.<ref name="history1"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.monaghan.ie/carrickmacrosstc/carricktchistory.asp | publisher = Monaghan County Council | website = monaghan.ie | title = Carrick History | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20070328190142/http://www.monaghan.ie/carrickmacrosstc/carricktchistory.asp | archive-date = 28 March 2007 }}</ref>

===Built heritage===
Among the historic buildings in the town is the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] church which was completed in 1866 and is dedicated to Saint Joseph.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41310034/saint-josephs-church-oneill-street-drummond-otra-carrickmacross-county-monaghan | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Saint Joseph's Church, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan | access-date = 18 February 2020}}</ref> It contains ten stained-glass windows which were designed by the artist [[Harry Clarke]] in 1925.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meehan |first=Cary |date=2004 |title=Sacred Ireland |url= |location=Somerset |publisher=Gothic Image Publications |page=65 |isbn=0 906362 43 1 |access-date=}}</ref> The town's [[Church of Ireland]] church, dedicated to Saint Finbarr, is older, and was built c.1770 before being remodelled c.1845.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41310063/saint-finbarrs-church-main-street-farney-street-drummond-otra-carrickmacross-county-monaghan | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Saint Finbarrs Church, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan | access-date = 18 February 2020}}</ref>

Magheross Church, located on the outskirts of the town, is also of historical interest, and originally dates from c.1550.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.carrickmacrossworkhouse.com/index.php/magheross-cemetery | website = carrickmacrossworkhouse.com | title = Magheross Cemetery | access-date = 18 February 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41310080/magheross-church-magheross-road-magheross-carrickmacross-county-monaghan | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Magheross Church, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan | access-date = 18 February 2020}}</ref> Other notable buildings include the Carrickmacross Courthouse (built in 1837)<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/41310005/carrickmacross-courthouse-main-street-drummond-otra-carrickmacross-county-monaghan | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Carrickmacross Courthouse, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan | access-date = 18 February 2020}}</ref> and the restored Poor Law Union Workhouse (built in 1841).<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.carrickmacrossworkhouse.com | website = carrickmacrossworkhouse.com | title = Carrickmacross Workhouse | access-date = 18 February 2020 }}</ref>

The grave of [[Patrick Byrne (musician)|Patrick Byrne]] (1794–1863), the last major exponent of the [[Gaelic harp]] and the first Irish traditional musician ever photographed, is in the area.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

===Lacemaking===
{{main|Carrickmacross lace}}
The town is known for the lace bearing its name. [[Carrickmacross lace]] is worked in an individual style, devised by Mrs Grey Porter, wife of the rector of Donaghmoyne, who introduced it in 1820. When she left the district the teaching of Carrickmacross lacemaking was continued by Miss Reid of Rahans, but it was only after the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in 1846, when a lace school was set up by the managers of the Bath and Shirley estates at Carrickmacross as a means of helping their starving tenants, that the lace became known and found sales.

Subsequently, the lacemaking declined, but in the last decade of the 19th century the Sisters of St Louis founded their own lace school to revive the craft, and this was quite profitable for several years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ó Cléirigh |first=Nellie |title=Carrickmacross lace: Irish embroidered net lace |year=1985 |publisher=Dolmen Press |location=Mountrath, Ireland |isbn=0-85105-436-6}}</ref> Although the outbreak of the 1914–18 war marked the virtual end of commercial production of hand-made lace in Europe, the lace school kept the technique alive throughout most of the 20th century. In 1984 the St Louis Sisters assisted in the formation of the Carrickmacross Lace Co-operative, which maintains the tradition to this day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Carrickmacross lace gallery |url=http://www.carrickmacrosslace.ie/acatalog/index.html |access-date=20 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520051550/http://www.carrickmacrosslace.ie/acatalog/index.html |archive-date=20 May 2013 |df=dmy}}</ref>

===Luftwaffe attack===
Although Ireland was neutral during World War Two, there were some incidents during the period. On 20 December 1940, as well as two bombs falling on Sandycove in Dublin, two more fell on Shantonagh near Carrickmacross, causing minor damage to house property.<ref name="it-1">[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-day-they-bombed-dublin-1.54917 The day they bombed Dublin]</ref>