Patrick Kavanagh Trail

4. Railway Bridge:
Once part of the Great Northern Railway (known as the "Irish North"), trains passed through daily en route from Dublin to "far flung towns" such as Enniskillen and Bundoran. Built during the great famine, the line closed in 1957. A spur line linked Inniskeen with Carrickmacross.
"I do not think of you lying in the wet clay Of a Monaghan graveyard; I see You walking down a lane among the poplars On your way to the station, or happily Going to second Mass on a summer Sunday …" from "IN MEMORY OF MY MOTHER"

5. Church of Mary Mother of Mercy: The present R.C.Parish Church won an architectural award on its completion in 1978. Its "conch shell" shape symbolises the journey of the pilgrim, and is mirrored in the surrounding twisting hills.

6. Dance Hall at Mullaghinsha:
Built in the late '30's by a group of parishioners, the hall was to become defunct as the local parish priest declared it out of bounds and opened his own dance hall in the village - where he could keep a proper eye on the goings-on! The row over the two halls was to be the central plot of "TARRY FLYNN". However, Kavanagh was persuaded to edit it out of the novel during its many redraftings in the '40's - probably due to the still-high emotions in the parish on the subject.