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Monivea Wood
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Monivea |
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The wood today is enjoyed by
people for walks and recreation away from the hustle and
bustle of every day life, freedom to roam and the enjoyment
of outdoors and fresh air activity.
It is known internationally for both its unique flora and
archaeology.
The
Monivea Wood is widely regarded as being one of the most
interesting, diverse and sensitive parts of East County
Galway. |
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Apart from the partially
completed felling of the Coillte crop, it remains for the
moment, largely undisturbed as a quite meditative place.
Lady Kathleen Ffrench left Monivea to the people of Monivea
and the nation in 1938. She stated the 400 acres of beech
woodland would be left "until the trees rot in the ground".
The newly-established independent Irish government had
decreed that when a landowner died, 90% of their lands
should be given to the local people, to break the old
English feudal systems. This meant that the size of the
Monivea demesne would be reduced from 10,000 acres to just
1000 - not nearly enough to sustain the baronial lifestyle
and castle. So it was that the land was left to the
fledgling Irish nation, and the mausoleum in the care of the
Catholic Church, as it remains today.
By the 1950s the trees were cut down by the land
commission/forestry board and replaced with a conifer
plantation, which is now ready for clear felling, hence the
sale. Coillte now have control over the forest. Monivea
Estate was acquired by the Ffrench family at the beginning
of the 17th century.
In 1938 the last member of the main branch of the family Ms.
Kathleen Ffrench bequeathed it to the Irish nation as 'a
home for indigent artists.' This bequest was abrogated with
the neglect and demolition of the main house leaving only
the medieval castle portion and outbuildings and the
break-up of the Estate. However the main woodland area
including the area adjacent to the village passed to the
Forestry Commission, subsequently Coillte, and has been a
long established public amenity.
The
Ffrench Mausoleum and Chapel is located in Monivea Wood.
Robert and Kathleen Ffrench's remains are contained in a
crypt in the basement of the Mausoleum. |
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