Frenchpark Historical Society

Frenchpark Historical Society The FHS is dedicated to researching and sharing the rich history of the Frenchpark Community.

We also support wider village revitalisation efforts — maintaining, reviving and reinterpreting our historical spaces as part of living heritage.

21/05/2026

🏰 Join archaeologist and historian Thomas Finan for a fascinating exploration of two decades of archaeological research around Lough Key, work that is transforming our understanding of medieval Gaelic Ireland.

📍 King House
📅 Wednesday July 22nd
⏰ 4pm
🎟️ Tickets & info: https://boylearts.com/event-listing/medieval-lough-key-thomas-finan/

Drawing on excavations at The Rock (Castle Island), completed in 2023, alongside major discoveries at Kilteasheen in Knockvicar and the Rockingham Moated Site, Finan will share the remarkable findings that have emerged from these important sites. Together, they offer an unprecedented insight into the social, political and cultural world of medieval Ireland.

With significant conservation work soon to begin on The Rock, and publication of the research now on the horizon, this talk offers audiences a rare opportunity to hear first-hand about discoveries that continue to reshape the story of the region and its past.

This engaging presentation will also look ahead to upcoming publications and the next phase of bringing this extraordinary research to a wider audience.

21/05/2026

CLONALIS HOUSE TOURS
Led by one of our knowledgeable guides, a tour of Clonalis is a rare opportunity to step back in time, exploring centuries of Irish tradition, personal histories, and beautifully preserved heirlooms- woven together to bring this extraordinary heritage to life.
We look forward to welcoming you and sharing the remarkable stories of one of Ireland’s oldest families.
Tours start June 21st - August 31st, Mon - Saturday and can be booked online on our website. www.clonalishouse.com

18/04/2026

18th April is International Day for Monuments & Sites. ✨

Spotlight on Cloonshanville Abbey:
The Dominican Priory of Holy Cross at Cloonshanville, just outside Frenchpark, was a built c. 1385 by Rufus McDermott Roe of Airteach. It was only the second of the late medieval wave of resurgent Gaelic Irish Dominican foundations, closely following on the foundation of Aghadoe in 1382. These succeeded a greater number of earlier, essentially Anglo-Norman foundations. It has been suggested that the priory was sited on what was originally an early Christian church site. Surviving landscape features around the graveyard are suggestive of a multivallate early Christian monastic site, perhaps with an entrance in the southwest, where a simple high cross still stands just outside the outermost vallum or bank.

This conjectural reconstruction drawing by Daniel Tietzscy Tyler is based on comparable sites to recreate the most likely arrangement of the priory complex as it might have been circa 1500. Shown are the church with its nave, chancel, tower and north transept. Emergency conservation works have been carried out recently to stabilise the tower, with thanks to funding from National Monuments Service - Archaeology of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage & Roscommon County Council.

The theme for is Living Heritage and Emergency Response, find out more on https://www.icomos.org/agenda/18-april-celebrating-international-day-for-monuments-and-sites/

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