Cootehill (/ˈkuːthɪl/; Irish: Muinchille, meaning 'ridge')[8] is a market town and townland in County Cavan, Ireland.

[8] The town's name in English, Cootehill, is a portmanteau attributed to the intermarriage of the landowning Coote and Hill families in the early 1700s.

A description from 1844 states: "The town is comparatively well-built and respectively inhabited; and is not equaled in appearance by any place between it and Dublin except Navan.

[citation needed] Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Féin and later President of Dáil Éireann, was elected here in 1918, and Rev.

[citation needed] Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill camped and trained the Ulster Army in Munnilly, in the 1640s during the Irish Confederate Wars.

One of the main estate houses in the area, Bellamont Forest, was built between 1725 and 1730 for Thomas Coote, the Lord Justice of Ireland.

Considered one of the finest Palladian villas in Ireland,[13][14] Bellamont House is not as well known as some of Pearce's other works, but the Coote family who built it are.

His youngest son Colonel Thomas Coote was granted the lands in County Cavan after the Act of Settlement in 1662 and was the founder of the town of Cootehill.

Other factories include Eakins and Whelans Shoes, and the Cootehill Enterprise Centre is home to Carleton Bakery.

[citation needed] The surrounding lakes and rivers provide a backdrop which attracts visitors and sports enthusiasts.

The estate featured several lakes, gatehouses at the numerous gates, pasture, forest, drumlins, and wildlife which includes wild deer and corncrakes.

Most of Bellamont Forest is now designated as Natural Heritage Area by Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Tanagh Outdoor Education Centre provides adventure sport activities (including canoeing and orienteering) for school groups and others.