Cavan County Council makes historic progress

Cavan County Council is charting a bold new path forward in creating a modern, dynamic, and future-proofed county, while maintaining a strong connection with its historic past, through ambitious projects like the Abbeylands Regeneration, the Bailieborough Bridewell Museum, the Cavan Connects programme, and the Cavan Regional Sports Campus.

Cavan is a county with a rich history and an outsized cultural footprint that belies its humble size. This is thanks in no small part to the enterprising spirit of its people, who have always taken pride in their heritage but kept their focus firmly on the future. Chief Executive Eoin Doyle says that Cavan County Council has sought to mirror this mindset.

“Projects like the Abbeylands Regeneration, for example, marry the past, present, and future in a way that will completely reinvigorate our county town ‒ taking the historic St Mary’s Abbey grounds and placing them at the heart of a modern public realm scheme incorporating state-of-the-art enterprise hub facilities,” says Mr Doyle.

“We at Cavan County Council recognise that the county boasts myriad strengths, and we constantly strive to develop these in a complementary way, thus maximising the benefit to the county, its people, and visitors to ‒ and investors in ‒ County Cavan.”

Abbeylands

Cavan County Council secured over €14m in funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) to revitalise the Abbeylands district of Cavan Town, a historic yet under-utilised area in the town core.

Clearance work is complete at the Abbeylands, and main construction will start in early 2026 on the development of two new three-storey office buildings, a shared community services building (939m2), a business development hub with community function on the ground floor (1,483m2), restoration of other existing structures on the site, and the creation of a new multi-functional civic space with pedestrian links to surrounding streets.

Bailieborough Bridewell

In the east of the county, the recently-opened Bailieborough Bridewell has seen the local authority convert the town’s Bridewell, which was constructed in 1833 and closed in 1900, into a compelling visitor experience telling the story of these jails that were established, primarily to house petty criminals, vagrants, those awaiting trial, and sometimes even children.

Delivered in partnership with Bailieborough Development Association and the Ulster-Scots Agency, it is the first tourism attraction on the island of Ireland that caters for visitors in Irish, English, and Ulster-Scots.

It has repurposed the town’s old courthouse and bridewell and brought them back into use for the benefit of the local community. This creates a new, paid tourism experience in Bailieborough for the benefit of the town, wider area, and county. Returning a building to use also improves the public realm and aesthetic of the main street.

Cavan Connects

Cavan Connects is Cavan County Council’s initiative to enhance digital literacy, tackle digital exclusion, and foster a connected community. Through Cavan Connects, the local authority recognised the potential for connecting the local community through technology when it partnered with NavIt to create the world’s first truly virtual graveyard.

This pioneering initiative brings the historical and sacred grounds of St. Dympna’s Church and Graveyard into the digital realm. Located in Lower Lavey, Co. Cavan, and launched in January 2025, this platform makes the Church and Graveyard accessible globally.

It creates an immersive virtual experience, allowing users to explore burial records interactively and detailed information about grave plots, statues, and St. Dympna’s Well. Users can navigate the virtual graveyard using a map, aerial views, and interactive info spots.

It is just one of a range of inventive and innovative projects being delivered by the local authority under the Cavan Connects banner, with STEM workshops, Schools Robotics competitions, and a Digital Champions programme among the initiatives keeping County Cavan at the forefront of developments in technology, future-proofing our communities and making the county an attractive focus for outward investment and a viable option for local digital enterprise.

The Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr John Paul Feeley, says these projects indicate the council’s determination to deliver the best possible outcomes for the county.

Shannon Pot Discovery Centre

The traditional source of Ireland’s greatest river is steeped in myth and mystery, and Cavan County Council, with funding secured under the Fáilte Ireland ‘Platforms for Growth’, is developing a new flagship tourism project, The Shannon Pot Discovery Centre, that will attract new visitors to the area in a sustainable way.

The new centre, nestled in the heart of the Cuilcagh Lakelands UNESCO Global Geopark, an internationally recognised area of outstanding beauty and geological importance, will showcase the source of Ireland’s mightiest river, and tell the story of its geography, history, and mythology. The project will also see the construction of a unique skywalk through the trees at nearby Cavan Burren Park, showcasing the spectacular views around Ireland’s largest Neolithic relic landscape.

In addition to the €7.4m in funding supplied by Fáilte Ireland, Cavan County Council is contributing €2.6m to the development. Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Councillor John Paul Feeley, says investing in major projects of this nature is something he and his fellow councillors recognise as crucial to developing the county.

“The management and elected members of Cavan County Council are united in their desire to continue to develop Cavan as an attractive place to live, to work, to visit, and to invest. Collectively we recognise the importance of our colourful history, of our unique drumlin landscape, and of our creativity and industriousness as a people, and that is why we are proud as councillors to have made the match funding available to pursue ambitious projects such as Abbeylands and the Shannon Pot Discovery Centre, so that we can maximise these resources for the benefit of all in County Cavan,” says Cllr Feeley.

Construction at the Shannon Pot Discovery Centre is underway. The attraction will open in 2026. By 2036, it is expected to attract 600,000 visitors per annum, leading to an additional €30m being spent in the local economy each year.