25/05/2023
Monivea village is situated in east Galway, about 28 km from Galway city and 9 km from Athenry.
It's located on the edge of Monivea woods, Monivea Rugby pitch, Monivea GAA grounds, Monivea school . It contains a community centre, several pubs, two grocery shops, a Garda station, a butchers shop, a gym, a post office, petrol pumps, a farmers store and a playground. It is a historic village, its greens are preserved structures laid out to facilitate the drying of flax for the linen industry. Monivea is surrounded by rich farming land as well as being adjacent to some bogland.
Monivea Castle dates back to the 16th Century when the ffrench Family, who had arrived in Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invader, Strongbow, moved west and purchased the castle and estate from the O’Kelly clan. The village, as we know it today, was then developed and grew when many generations of the Ffrench family, together with workers hired from local villages, reclaimed land from local bog lands and developed local industry. In 1650 Oliver Cromwell terrorised Ireland and confiscated the lands. However, following Cromwell’s departure, the family purchased the lands again, including lands in the townland of Corrandoo.
In 1744, a descendant, Robert Ffrench, inherited the estate and made many improvements such as drainage, seeding and reclaiming lands from the bog. He set up a linen industry and the green in Monivea village was used for bleaching and drying the flax. He also built a charter school, now McGivern’s, and nurtured beech plantations throughout the estate. Robert Ffrench represented Galway in the English Parliament between 1768 and 1776. In its prime in 1876 the estate occupied 10,121 acres of land and by the late 19th Century another generation of the family reigned and another Robert Ffrench was now at Monivea Castle.
He was a member of the British diplomatic service and served as Secretary to the British Embassy in St. Petersburg and Vienna. He travelled widely and led the life of a rich Diplomat. He married Sophia, only child of Alexander de Kindiakoff, a Russian noble of great wealth with seven estates on the Volga River and they had one child – Kathleen Ffrench. Robert died in Italy in 1896 and Kathleen decided to build a Mausoleum in Monivea where he would be laid to rest. While the Mausoleum is immaculately preserved and maintained but the central tower of the main house and some of stables survive. ( courtesy Skehana Heritage)
The ruins of the Church of ireland remain in the village and many of the ffrench family and relatives are buried in the church of Ireland graveyard attached to it. The details of the burials were recently mapped and recorded by Monivea Heritage Association.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.374917,-8.7050841,16z?entry=ttu
