Liam Bradley (29) is Ireland's youngest museum curator and was appointed to run the Monaghan County Museum in 2003.

Born in Dublin, he grew up in Monaghan before leaving for Belfast in 1996.

Despite experiencing the tail end of the troubles, he enjoyed his time studying archaeology and palaeoecology at Queen's University.

He worked in bars and in kitchens to put himself through college and graduated with an honours degree.

He returned to Monaghan in 2001 and began working with the County Museum as exhibitions officer before eventually getting the top job in 2003.

Since then he has revamped the displays to target them more towards the local community" and says visitor numbers have more than doubled in the last three years.

The Museum, funded by the county council, has six staff and a collection of 50,000 objects including the spectacular Bronze Age Lisdrumturk Cauldron (found in 1854 in 14ft of bog near Carrickmacross) and the 14th century Clogher Cross, one of the most important pieces of mediaeval Irish art.

Mr Bradley lives in a rented apartment in the town. He describes Monaghan as a booming town which he has seen grow in the last 15 years from a small provincial town by the Border to a large commercial centre for the north-east.

"It's an exciting multi-cultural community that continues to grow as the town expands ever further into it's hinterland," he says.

Bradley loved growing up in Monaghan and likes the direction the town has taken.

"The sense of community and the hello on the street is still there."

His son Josh (7) attends the excellent Billis National School and has plenty to do, including playing soccer with Glaslough Villa.