Monivea () is a village in

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, Ireland. It is located approximately from

Galway City Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and from

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

. The village is in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name. It was formerly part of the kingdom of the

Soghain The Soghain were a people of ancient Ireland. The 17th-century scholar Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh identified them as part of a larger group called the Cruithin. Mac Fhirbhisigh stated that the Cruithin included "the Dál Araidhi ál nAraidi ...

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

. Monivea is known for its forest,

Monivea Castle Monivea Castle () is a former O'Kelly tower house, located near Monivea in County Galway, Ireland. It was acquired by the ffrench family, one of the fourteen Tribes of Galway, who developed it further, enhancing the lands and building the Monive ...

which now lies in partial ruins, and a well-preserved

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

. The mausoleum and castle were built by the Ffrench family, one of the "

Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway () were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Brown ...

", who were also responsible for the distinctive layout of the greens in the centre of the village, which were used as drying stations for the linen (known as flax) of local industries. The forest, mausoleum and castle were left to the State by the last Ffrench, and the forest is now held by

Coillte Coillte (; ; meaning /) is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a 'land solut ...

. There are two small grocery shops one with a petrol station, a butcher shop, four pubs, a Garda station, a post office, a playground, a church in Ryehill, and Monivea National School.

History

In 1609, members of the

ffrench Ffrench or ffrench is a relatively rare surname found in Ireland, a variant of the name French (surname), French. The name originated in France and was brought by the Normans, who landed in Bannow Bay, County Wexford, Ireland in 1169. According to ...

(or Ffrench) family, who had been landholders in Galway since the early Norman era, and were one of the Norman-Gaelic

tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway () were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Brown ...

, bought land from the O'Kelly family. Building on to a fortified residence ("castle") built by the O'Kellys, the Ffrenches established Monivea House, which is commonly known as

. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the Ffrenches remained Catholic. As a result, in 1650 the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

confiscated their properties. Following the Restoration, however, these lands were returned to the Ffrenches. Subsequent generations of the Ffrenches

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

that had previously been

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s. In 1744, Robert Ffrench inherited the property. He made bogland arable by liming, ploughing and seeding it. He set up a linen industry and houses for the weavers. Greens were laid out to dry the linen. He built a school and planted trees where Monivea Woods now stands. In 1762, construction commenced on a Protestant (

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

) Church, which was consecrated by the

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ) is an Episcopal polity, archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Cathol ...

. It remained in use until 1924, after which the building deteriorated. The south side of the roof collapsed in 1955, although most of the building remains, alongside the playground in the village.

Landmarks

The Father Sammon Centre is used to host events, including those marking the twinning with Treméven and celebrating the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an i ...

. The hall is also used by several clubs in including boxing, active age, taekwondo and dance clubs. The mausoleum contains the remains of Robert Ffrench and his daughter. A nearby icehouse was used for food storage by the Ffrenches.

Sport

Monivea Abbey and Abbeyknockmoy Hurling are the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

clubs. Monivea Rugby Club has been present in the village since 1977. There are also taekwondo, kickboxing and boxing clubs.

Twinning

The village of Monivea had been officially twinned with the town of Treméven,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 2010. However this process begun long before this with a number of visits between the two towns in the preceding years. The first part of the twinning towns charter was signed on 5 July 2009 in the town of Treméven,

. The Monivea representatives spent a week being entertained by music, dance, tours of the area, and banquets provided by their hosts in Trémeven. Monivea signed the second part of the Twinning towns charter on Sunday 15 August 2010 in Monivea with the town of Treméven

References

External links

Monivea History & Heritage
{{County Galway Towns and villages in County Galway Civil parishes of County Galway