Rockcorry was originally built as a market town by the Corry family. The ruin of an old stone-built brewery and mill can be seen on the outskirts of the village. Rockcorry Market House was built in 1835 by Thomas C. Steuart Corry. It is a simple, almost square building of two stories and three bays. There is a tall central arch in each facade. On the main front the central bay breaks forward slightly and is topped by a pediment. Cornet Walter Corry built the town of Newtowncorry, later renamed Rockcorry, and the now vanished Rockcorry Castle. The current main street of the village was built in the 1840s. According to the Introduction to the Dartrey Papers, part of the Fairfield Estate, the Corry family's country estate that included Rockcorry, was bought in 1831 for Richard Dawson, 1st Earl of Dartrey, the young head of the Dawson family of neighbouring Dartrey. Most of the rest of the Fairfield Estate was later bought in 1840 by the young Lord Cremorne. Cremorne would go on to become a prominent Liberal politician. The Fairfield Estate was added on to the vast Dartrey Estate, centered on Dawson Grove. Thus, the village of Rockcorry also changed ownership at that time, now being owned by the Dawson family. The Dawson Monument, a neo-classical column designed by James Wyatt and erected around 1808, still stands on the Cootehill/Rockcorry road in memory of Richard Dawson MP, who died in 1807. It was erected by the independent voters of County Monaghan in praise of their member of Irish parliament and following the Act of Union, member of the British House of Commons. Richard 'honest Dick' Dawson voted against the Act of Union and was suspected of radical sympathies during the period of the United Irishmen.
Transport
Rockcorry is not served by rail services, as Rockcorry railway station closed for passenger and goods traffic on 10 March 1947 and closed altogether on 20 June 1955. Bus routes which serve the village include Bus Éireannroute 175, which operates daily linking Rockcorry with Monaghan, Cootehill and Cavan. There are four journeys each way Mondays to Fridays inclusive and two in each direction on Saturdays and Sundays.
