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County Galway · Connacht · Muine Mheá

About Monivea

Monivea is a village in County Galway, 26 km north-east of Galway city, with 456 people at the 2022 census. The Ffrenches' linen village, its greens laid out to dry the flax, with the castle, the mausoleum and the forest they left to the State, 9 km from Athenry.

Population
456 (2022 census)
Where
26 km from Galway, 162 km from Dublin
Position
53.3750° N, 8.7029° W, 83 m above sea level
In Irish
Muine Mheá
Twinned with
Treméven, Brittany
On the model
333 buildings, 5 streets, 79 places in 30 kinds
Read more
Monivea on Wikipedia
The 3D model of Monivea with every named place pinned
Castles of Connacht: Monivea, Galway
Castles of Connacht: Monivea, Galway
Mike Searle, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Monivea Road, Galway
Monivea Road, Galway
Darrin Antrobus, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Monivea gas station
Monivea gas station
fabiolah, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Monivea Garda station
Monivea Garda station
fabiolah, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A short history

  1. Early times
    Soghain. The parish was part of the kingdom of the Soghain of Connacht.
  2. 1609
    The Ffrenches buy. The Norman-Gaelic tribe of Galway bought land from the O'Kellys and built Monivea House onto the O'Kelly castle.
  3. 1744
    Robert Ffrench. He limed, ploughed and seeded the bog, set up a linen industry with houses for weavers, laid out the greens for drying, built a school and planted the trees of Monivea Woods.
  4. 1762 to 1955
    The Protestant church. Begun in 1762 and consecrated by the Archbishop of Tuam, used until 1924; the south roof fell in 1955, but most of it stands by the playground.
  5. 1977
    Rugby. Monivea Rugby Club has been in the village since.
  6. The last Ffrench
    Left to the State. The forest, the mausoleum with Robert Ffrench and his daughter, and the castle, now in partial ruin; Coillte holds the woods.

The full history, 6 moments in order

What to see

  1. Monivea Castle1.6 km

    The O'Kelly tower and the Ffrench house, 1.6 km from the green.

  2. The mausoleum

    Robert Ffrench's well-preserved tomb, with the icehouse nearby.

  3. Monivea Woods

    The forest Robert Ffrench planted.

  4. The old church138 m

    The Anglican church of 1762 beside the playground.

  5. The greens

    The linen-drying greens that shape the village.

  6. Knockmoy Abbey7.8 km

    The Cistercian abbey 7.8 km away.

All the things to see and do

Questions people ask

Where is Monivea?
In County Galway, in the province of Connacht, in the west of Ireland: 26 km north-east of Galway city and 162 km west of Dublin, on 9 km from Athenry, between Galway and Tuam.
What is the population of Monivea?
456 people at the 2022 census.
What is there in Monivea?
On the map, 79 named places in 30 kinds: 5 places to eat and drink, 4 shops, 5 schools, churches and public buildings, and 58 things to see within 12 km.
What is Monivea known for?
The Ffrenches, their castle, mausoleum and forest, and the greens laid out in the 1700s to dry linen.

Getting around

Monivea sits on 9 km from Athenry, between Galway and Tuam. 0 bus stops and 0 car parks are on the map.

History, sights and civic facts summarise Wikipedia, "Monivea" (CC BY-SA 4.0, read 2026-09-19). Population is the CSO census as listed there. Distances and everything on the model are OpenStreetMap.