placenamesTedavnet
Tigh Damhnata
Tedavnet, also commonly written Tydavnet, preserves a historic burial ground and associations with remarkable objects held in the National Museum of Ireland.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Tigh Damhnata · Irish · main form · validated name
- Tedavnet · English · main form
- Tydavnet · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The gold discs
A pair of decorated gold discs from Tedavnet belongs to the National Museum of Ireland’s Early Bronze Age collection. Its educational account dates them to approximately 2200–1800 BC. The objects provide evidence of ancient activity associated with the locality, without establishing that the modern village has been continuously inhabited since that period. [2]
The old church site
The historic burial ground occupies the medieval church site. An order in 1754 called for removal of the parish church, whose stone was used for the church at Ballinode. St Dympna’s Catholic church was built nearby in 1784. The old burial ground closed by district council order in 1910. [3]
Carved reminders of life and death
John Forster’s memorial of 1677 is the graveyard’s earliest recorded slab. Its carvings include a skull, crossed bones, coffin, bell and hourglass. Other memorials record working lives through tools: Toale McKenna’s headstone, dated 1790, has a plough and spade. The collection makes local craft and commemorative traditions visible in stone. [3]
The staff associated with St Damhnat
The Bachall Damhnait was preserved by the local O’Luan or Lamb family before the Royal Irish Academy acquired it in 1835. Now in the National Museum, the bronze-covered staff has lost much of its crook. Its original provenance is uncertain; its association with St Damhnat belongs to its history of veneration. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Tedavnet. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Activity Sheet: Summer Sun Discs · National Museum of Ireland
- Conservation Management Plan: Tydavnet Burial Ground, November 2024 · Jonny Small and Christina O’Regan, IAC Archaeology, for Monaghan County Council
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2018-11-14. How this page was prepared.