Monaghan Town Team held the inaugural Monaghan Has It Day on 23rd May 2026 to celebrate all things Monaghan. From the heart of Monaghan Town Centre to select locations nearby, it was a day to celebrate everything that makes Monaghan special — its people, its businesses and the incredible community spirit.
We created a pop‑up Community Village in Church Square with 52 local community groups represented there throughout the day. They each had information stalls letting visitors know what they were about and a lot of groups even got to recruit new members.
There was live music & entertainment from local talent such as the Drumlin Yarnspinners, Tango performances by Laura McGeough from the Tango Academy of Ireland, The Squealing Ukeleles, Line Dancing from world champion group Shufflin’ Boots and music from the Monaghan Brass Band, Ceolinn and the Serenata Choir.
Our Cathaoirleach opened the event with a welcome speech and the event M.C. was local musician and District Music Editor, Rachel Mae Hannon. There were other talks, demos & giveaways throughout the day. There was the Monaghan Town Walking Tour, a spin-bike challenge and pilates tasters from Coral Leisure, an appearance and live interview with our Monaghan Rose Leah Murphy, a wellness walk around Peter’s Lake, a 10-minute History of Monaghan Town from the Old Monaghan Society and so much more.
The businesses participated by putting on promotions and getting involved in a town‑wide treasure hunt that kept all the family involved. Members of the Town Team also handed out County Monaghan Gift Cards to unsuspecting customers in local stores just to add to the feeling of goodwill in the air on the day.
We wanted to say a big thank you to all those who helped us make it happen - Our fellow members of the Monaghan Town Team and all the family members we roped in to help! The Monaghan MD staff from Monaghan CoCo. Special shout out to Colm Lynch and his outdoor staff, as well as Liz Brannigan (and not forgetting Caitlin) and the Civil Defence. To all the community groups who showed up on the day. All the music and entertainment was provided by local performers and we can't thank you enough for sharing your talents with us on the day. To all the local businesses who got involved, we thank you for going that extra mile.
Major thanks to our funders: Monaghan CoCo and Monaghan MD, O’Hanrahan Travel, Ward’s Life Pharmacy and the Squealing Pig. To McElvaney Marquee and Inflatable Pub Hire and to Monaghan Hire who couldn’t do enough for us. To St. Patrick's Church for allowing us use of their space.
We tried to keep it local where we could when it came to hiring local businesses.
MC: Rachel Mae Hannon
Videographer: Réalta Media
Photographer: Rory Geary
Live Radio Broadcast: Northern Sound.
Sound system: Lee-Ron Hawe - Wired4Sound.
Printing: Crafty Owl, Swiftprint, TOS.
Volunteer Lunches: Barley & Bean, Dinkin’s, Jimmy’s.
Fire Prevention: Keith - Annette Fire
Projector Hire: Ruth & Paul - Events Hire
Stretch Tent: Clifford Kidd – Tented
