The Monaghan County Tourism Office offers dozens of brochures on local attractions. A 28-page full colour angler’s guide is a “trophy” in itself. Another offers Failte (welcome) to the Patrick Kavanaugh Centre in Inniskeen. Perhaps you’re not familiar with this beloved poet of rural Ireland. “Twilight through the coloured windows played on that congregation but could not smooth the parchment faces, skin the colour of clay, and clay in their hair and clothes.”
Your holiday material need not be confined to fishing and poetry. There is info available on a world class equestrian centre at Glaslough, legendary lace at Carrickmacross and Clones, challenging ambles at Sliagh Beagh and Rossmore, and Rally School Ireland at Scotstown. Yes, visitors can drive a Subaru Impreza Turbo on a rally stage as fast as....well, the instructor will allow.
But this spacious office with its excellent staff occupies only a small part of the €8.5 million Monaghan Leisure Complex that opened in August 2006. An American reader might not easily grasp the import of the term “Leisure Complex” but the locals who complained briefly during replacement of the old facility are justly proud of their new one. It now features a 25m, 6-lane indoor pool, kid’s pool, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi, giant flume (water slide), fully-equipped gym, and 20 studio classes per week. David Moore, the University trained Club Manager, has put together a staff and range of activities that will interest the broadest range of leisure appetites. One that’s sure to appeal to children, not to mention their parents, is the kid’s summer day camp, offered two weeks in July, two in August for ages 5-15. Daily activities include a variety of supervised games, contests, lessons, crafts, and team sports too numerous to list here. The two tennis courts are seldom idle, even in a light drizzle. The bouncy castle will delight adults but only as spectators. Children eagerly remove their shoes to take their turns springing around its cushy confines. With an emphasis on exercise, healthy nutrition, and fun, the complex has something for everyone, from toddlers to the parents and grandparents who bring them.
How to get there:
From Dublin, take N2. From Belfast, N3 to Monaghan Town. From Monaghan Town take N54, Clones Road, 1km west on left
Opening times:
MWF, 7:00 am to 10:00 pm
TTh, 9:00 am to 10:00 pm
S/S 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Admission Fees:
Daily swim/gym (adult, pay as you go, €6.50; child, € 3.50)
Summer camp €70 per child per week
Address:
Monaghan Leisure Complex
Clones Road
Monaghan Town, Co. Monaghan
T: 047 81734
Written by Joy Davis - Summer of Travel 2007