A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
An Cabhán· Irish · main form · validated name
Cavan· English · main form
Place & story
A landscape that crosses borders
Cavan County Council describes the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark as spanning Cavan and Fermanagh, with lakes, rivers, caves, drumlins and upland cliffs. The geological landscape does not stop at the county line. That is a useful starting point for understanding neighbouring places: a modern boundary can divide a continuous landform and leave closely connected communities in different administrative systems. The geopark is one part of the county’s geography, not a synonym for all Cavan.[3]
Breifne and the O’Reilly country
Lewis’s 1837 county history associates eastern Breifne largely with Cavan and western Breifne with Leitrim. The O’Reilly chiefs feature prominently in his account of the region’s political history.[2]
People & connections
William Bedell at Kilmore
Kilmore’s bishop William Bedell is a distinctive figure in the county’s religious and linguistic history. He facilitated the translation of the Old Testament into Irish, although the work reached publication only after his death.[4]
A collection of historical studies launched at Kilmore Cathedral in 2025 revisited Bedell’s life, contemporaries and the contribution of his biographer Alexander Clogie. The diocesan account emphasises the tension between his translation work and the upheaval of the 1641 rebellion: Bedell died after a period of imprisonment. His career links a particular Cavan institution with the broader history of printing, Protestant scholarship and the Irish language.[4]
Figures cover the whole county including its cities. CSO recommends this series for long-term comparison, although minor boundary changes have occurred.
View population figures
County Cavan, including its cities — census population
placenames