Mohill Mo Scéal

A new digital storymap of Mohill will be launched on 13 March at Mohill Library. Mohill Mo Scéal (Mohill My Story)  tells the history of the town through an interactive online map supported by a printed booklet. The project has been developed locally through funding from Leitrim County Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.  

The innovative approach was the result of an extensive consultation process. The combined talents of the creative team – Fiona Slevin, Fionnuala Maxwell and Kim Taylor – is visible in the blend of historical research, local input and addition of music, song and oral recordings.

Mohill has a rich history stretching back fifteen hundred years, and the storymap traces Mohill’s urban history to the founding of a monastery by St Manchán in the sixth century. Fiona Slevin said, ‘even after fifteen centuries, the imprint of these people endures in Mohill’s names, landscape and culture since the Gaelic way of life lasted here up to the mid-1500s before an abrupt shift to British governance, anglicisation and landlordism’.

David Minton, Director of Services with Leitrim County Council, said ‘the project aligns with recent investment in the town’. He added: ‘the launch of the Mohill Mo Scéal storymap builds on the significant investment already delivered in Mohill, including recent public realm improvements and the shopfront paint scheme. These initiatives are enhancing the town’s appearance, accessibility and visitor experience. The storymap adds an important cultural layer to this progress, celebrating Mohill’s history while supporting its future as a vibrant place to live, work and visit’.

Mohill Mo Scéal focuses on Mohill as a centre for fairs, markets and trade and on the 20th century. The revolutionary period is illustrated through stories of the Black and Tans and the impact of IRA trade boycotts. Mohill as a centre for fairs and markets is shown through the history of Monaghan Day and the importance of the railway and Mohill’s weekly markets for exports and local farm income.

Many of the stories include rare or previously unpublished material including recordings from the closure of Mohill train station in 1959 and a previously unpublished short story that immortalises some of the characters of Hyde Terrace in the 1950s. It also includes Fionnuala Maxwell singing O Carolan’s lament for his wife Máire to the original air, possibly the first time it has been heard in centuries. As Fionnuala Maxwell notes, ‘the storymap allows archival material to be shared in a living way – it’s a joy to see songs and music that might otherwise remain tucked away in local collections now reaching new listeners’.

The storymap is both an archive and homage to Mohill and its people. While emigration and economics continue to test Mohill’s resilience, the town retains a deep sense of place, pride in its rich history, and a vibrant, strong community spirit. ‘Our biggest challenge was choosing what to leave out’, said Fiona Slevin who led the project. She continued, ‘given our theme, we are conscious of leaving out major eras, events, people and institutions such as the Famine, the courthouse, the GAA, churches, Mohill Agricultural Show, and Lord Leitrim; we concentrated our efforts on stories where material was available, or where people came forward with stories and photos’. Kim Taylor, who has organised many historical events in Mohill remarked, ‘this storymap is a fantastic way of bringing Mohill’s rich history together in one place, and we hope it encourages more people to engage and share their knowledge of our shared heritage’.