Meaning & use
Cavan County
Last updated
Meanings
proper nounproper
A county in the north of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, with its main town also called Cavan.
Grammar: Used as a name, so it takes no article and is not made plural: I visited Cavan County last summer.
Patterns
- Cavan County Council
- in Cavan County
- Cavan County, Ireland
Her grandparents run a small farm in Cavan County, near the border with Northern Ireland.
Cavan County is known for its many lakes, which draw anglers from across Europe.
The match between Dublin and Cavan County drew a big crowd to the stadium.
proper nounproperformal
The local government area administered by Cavan County Council in Ireland.
Grammar: Often appears before 'Council' or in official titles; it stays singular and takes no article.
Patterns
- Cavan County Council
- Cavan County development plan
Cavan County Council announced new funding for rural roads this week.
Applications for the grant must be sent to Cavan County Council by Friday.
The Cavan County development plan sets out where new housing may be built.
Common combinations
- Cavan County Council
- Cavan County Council is responsible for local roads and planning.
- in Cavan County
- There are more than 300 lakes in Cavan County.
- Cavan County, Ireland
- She was born in Cavan County, Ireland, but grew up in Boston.
- the Cavan County team
- The Cavan County team won the match by two points.
Synonyms and how they differ
- County Cavan
- This is the usual official and everyday order in Ireland; 'Cavan County' sounds more like a label for the county as a unit.
Word family
- Cavan proper noun
- The town and county in Ireland, and also a common Irish surname.
- Cavanman noun
- Informal word for a man from County Cavan, used mainly in sport and local talk.
Commonly confused: Cavan County or Cavan? Cavan County or Kavan?
Cavan County vs Cavan
Cavan alone can mean either the town or the whole county, so 'Cavan County' is used when you want to make clear you mean the county rather than the town.
Cavan County vs Kavan
Kavan is a rare surname and a different spelling; it is not the Irish place name.
Practice
Which sentence uses the name of this Irish county in the most natural way?
Choose one answer.
Names of counties take no article, so 'in Cavan County' is correct. Option 0 wrongly adds 'the', option 2 wrongly adds 'a', and option 3 wrongly adds the possessive 's' after 'County'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Cavan County”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.