Rent Ledger 1876

Records of tenant rents at Ffrench Estate, Monivea.

Emma Laffey

This rent ledger from the Ffrench Estate Monivea was saved from destruction by a local man Johnny Dolly, Kilbeg, when he was just a young school-going boy. Like many estates around Ireland during this period a lot of the stately homes were being torn down and their stone used for road construction and other buildings as well. A lot of household items got sold off or burned. Luckily for us Johnny saved one of these beautiful rent ledgers. Johnny said “if I could have carried more, I would have, but unfortunately the ledgers were just too heavy as I was still a young boy.”

This ledger provides us a great insight into the workings and costings of a landlords estate during the year 1876. Many of the family names of the tenants in this ledger still remain in local area today. Ironically and unknown to Johnny, he also rescued the ledger that contained the documents for the costings to his own grandfather’s forge that the Ffrench family had paid for. Johnny’s grandfather was a master blacksmith and worked for the Ffrench family.

You can see Johnny below with his beloved ledger that is now donated by Johnny to the Galway County Library Archives for safe keeping. This ledger can be viewed below and it is in eight separate parts to facilitate ease of access.

There is also a link attached to an interview Johnny did with Sally Ann Barrett from Galway Bay FM as part of the Galway Forged Gates Project with Galway Heritage Council.