Heritage Week 2013: The French Connection

On Sunday, August 18th, the Heritage Group held a walk in the woods in Monivea Demesne as part of its ontri!ution to "ational Heritage #eek$ %he sele tion of this lo ation was in part due to the fa t that %he &fren hs of Monivea had a signifi ant presen e in Skehana'Menlough over many enturies$ %he &fren hs arrived in (reland in the 1)th entury !ut did not move to the west until the 1*th +entury$ %heir !ase was in Monivea Demesne !ut they did not have a presen e in the Skehana'Menlough area until 1*,1 when -atri k &ren h held the lands of Doonaun, .sker, Gar!ally, -olla rossaun, /il!eg, +orrandoo and /no k orrandoo while Matthew &fren h ontrolled the lands of Menlough .ighter, Menlough Oughter and Menlough +ommons$ Over the ne0t two enturies their presen e !e ame more e0pansive$ Griffiths 1aluation of %enements 218334 noted that !y this time they also ontrolled 5ally!aun, 5allynamona, +arrowferrikeen, +arrowmore, Derryglassaun, Gorteendrisagh and Gortnaglogh$ Other townlands su h as Skehanagh, +loon urreen and Guilka were owned !y the &it6gerald7/enny family and further north the O8/elly8s and later the 9amesons were the landowners of #indfield :pper, ;ower and Demesne as well as Mullaghmore "orth, South, .ast and #est, while 9ohn +annon .vans, who resided in +ross House in +ross .ighter was the landlord for 5allinrooaun$ %he &fren hs did however also have dominion over the townland of +ooloo$ Attendees were wel omed !y Sean +onneely 2 hairperson4 who gave a !rief history of the onstru tion and evolution of Monivea village and the !asis for its foundation revolving around the linen industry as introdu ed !y the &fren h family !efore a leisurely walk through the pines and native !roadleaf trees led the group to the Mausoleum whi h is a true <gem in the forest8$ %his was onstru ted !y the &ren h family, from #i klow granite, to house the remains of its de eased family mem!ers$ On its steps the group=s interest was aptured as %om #ard, originally from +orrandoo, delivered a history of the &fren h family, !oth in (reland and a!road$ %om tra ed the history of the family from its arrival or our shores in the 1)th entury to its final days in the last entury$ Attendees then had the rare opportunity of entering the !uilding !ut the tour was onfined to the ground floor as a ess to the vaults and first floor level was restri ted for time and safety reasons given the large num!ers involved$ (t was then onto the ( e House whi h has !een tastefully restored to its former glory$ Mi hael +onneely gave us a history of the general uses of i e houses and how they fun tioned$ (t was then onwards to view, at a distan e, the remains of Monivea +astle and the ourtyard of the &fren h residen e$ Mi hael led us through its history first as a tower house 2whose destru tion along with Gar!ally +astle led to =%he Great 5attle of /no kdoe=4 then to its development as a <!ig house8$ He on luded !y e0plaining how the astle a ted as a ommand entre for the running a 1>,>>> a re estate from its peak of operation until its demise in the early )>th +entury$ #e would like to a knowledge the work of Sean, %om and Mi hael for their resear h and delivery on the day and to all of the other mem!ers who assisted in the detailed preparation and planning for what was a most informative and en?oya!le evening$ Jimmy Laffey (PRO)

Skehana Summer Festival 1991: A Film

On &riday, August )@rd, the Heritage Group fa ilitated the s reening of a film hroni ling the 1AA1 Skehana Summer &estival$ 5a k in 1AA1 e0tensive footage was made of ea h event and Gerry +ostello reated a two hour summary of this eight day 2and nightB4 e0travagan6a$ .arlier this year the film was retrieved from the vaults of his studio, the o!we!s were removed, dust was !rushed aside and the data was transferred from 1HS to D1D$ %he annual &estival was re ognised in every lo al and national ultural alendar as it !e ame firmly esta!lished and most, if not all, of the redit goes to &r$ -at O85rien for his initiative and indeed it was his own high profile and onne tions that made it su h an i oni fi0ture$ %he film ertainly !rought !a k many memoriesC from the opening !y the late Ar h!ishop 9oseph +assidy, the last live re ording !y the late S ottish poet and novelist George M 5eth, the award winning performan e of =%he &ield= !y the Garrymore Drama Group, and more lo al a tivities su h as the ar treasure hunt, art ompetition, sports day, ommunity !ar!e ue and dan e among other items$ %his nostalgi reprodu tion ertainly !rought !a k a flood of happy memories for many people, !ut it also undou!tedly !rought !a k some sad moments for others, as it features numerous family and ommunity mem!ers and festival supporters who have sin e gone to their eternal reward$ %he Heritage Group hope to host a se ond s reening of the film in the new year, where hard opies will !e on sale$ Alternatively the film an !e pur hased from the following linkC httpC''www$onlinepi tureproof$ om'g p'view7your7pi tures'al!ums'1A3)A or !y onta ting any mem!er of %he Heritage +ommittee listed on the front over$ Gri in Famil! Gathering

Chil"ren#s $urial Groun"s

#e ontinue to make progress in our attempts to a knowledge and ommemorate those who are !uried in the +hildrens 5urial Grounds of the area$ (n August this year our friends in Moylough Heritage Group organised a gathering to ommemorate those !uried at the !urial ground at Mullaghmore$ %he attendan e was impressive and it greatly en ourages us to ontinue in our own ongoing efforts in this area$ #e have !een On May )Dth, 18A) Mary Griffin and her working in onsultation with Galway +ounty youngest son %homas left the townland of +oun il=s Heritage Offi er Ms$ Marie Mannion 5allinrooaun and !oarded =%he S ythia= in who visited the area a num!er of months ago and Eueenstown and set sail for the <"ew who was very generous in advising our group on #orld8$ (n 9uly, this year, Mary8s great granddaughter, Margaret 2Griffin4 +lark and how to pro eed$ &ollowing on from that meeting we have made onta t with Dr +hristy +unniffe Margaret8s own daughter, Su6anne 5utler, and her grandson, 5illy arrived to visit their who is due to visit some of the sites shortly so that an appropriate report an !e ompiled$ an estral home$ #e were delighted to have &ollowing on from this report we will !e a!le to !een a part of their ?ourney and to have helped them to re onne t with our parish$ A pro eed further with the pro?e t$ Many thanks full a ount of their visit is availa!le on our must !e given to Marie and +hristy for their o7 operation and advi e on this pro?e t so far$ fa e!ook page$%ar!&s great k'

Collection o (hotogra)hic %aterial

Over the past year we have !een !usy ompiling images and information relating to the lo al heritage$ #e now hope to e0tend this work with the o7operation of the wider ommunity$ Soon we will soon !e reating a num!er of folders in whi h we hope to olle t images relating to various aspe ts of heritage in the area in ludingF Sport, S hool, (ndustry'&arming, ;anded .states'5ig Houses, So ial events 2e$g$ on erts, meetings et $4, Geligious events, and Genealogy$ #e would also en ourage you to take photographs of any artefa t or feature whi h you feel may !e of histori al signifi an e$ &or e0ample, su h images may in lude items that were salvaged from estate houses, su h as this !ell whi h was originally part of the 9ameson .state House in #indfield$ #e also hope to organise an event whi h will fa ilitate the digiti6ation of old images and we would en ourage you to !ring along any old images or artefa ts that you may have lying around -lease remem!er that even the smallest rum! of information is of immense value and should !e re orded !efore it disappears forever$

*ral Histor!
Oral history an !e a finite resour e unless it is ommuni ated !etween the generations$ #e re ognise the importan e of su h information and are eager to !egin an e0tensive and ongoing olle tion of oral histories in the area$ Su h a olle tion will not !e isolated within one age group !ut will span the generations$ (ndeed the a ount of a @> year old hurler today may in 1>> years open a window into an era that has otherwise !e ome loudy with time$ #hile primary eviden e is of paramount interest to us, we also re ognise that stories may !e passed down through generations and we are eager to re ord the stories of some of those who are, unfortunately no longer with us$ Many of you will have heard parents, grandparents or even great7grandparents speak of their memories of times long goneF %he #ar of (ndependan e, %he ;and ;eague, %he +ivil #ar, ;o al 5oy otts, may!e even the &amine$ (f you have any memories of su h stories, or stories of your own, please onta t any mem!er of the group to fa ilitate a re ording of your information in a way with whi h feel most omforta!le$

AG%
Our AGM will !e held at 8$@>pm on the ),th of "ovem!er in +ostello=s$ #e would en ourage you all to attend and to share your ideas and ontri!utions with us$ Alternatively you may wish to attend one of our open meetings whi h are held on e a month in +ostello=s, details of whi h an !e viewed in advan e on the group=s fa e!ook page$ +onta t Details

Sean +onneely 2+hairman4C >8*8)33A>1 9immy ;affey 2-GO4C >83 )18,3DD

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+ompiled and produ ed !y Mi hael +onneely