Moneenroe

In the past many from Moneenroe worked at the coal mines at Deerpark Mines which closed in the 1960s.

It is located on the N78 main road between Castlecomer and Carlow town, approximately 5 kilometres from Castlecomer and 16 kilometres from Carlow town. The village borders with County Laois at several points, with Crettyard being the closest townland in County Laois.

Townlands in the electoral division of Moneenroe include Coolbawn, Croghtenclogh, Gorteen, Moneenroe, Smithstown and Uskerty.[2][3]

Móinín Rua means "The little red bog" due to the marshy land in some parts of the townland.

Moneenroe is the most densely populated rural area in the county.[4]

Church of the Sacred Heart

There are two local churches and a community hall. The Catholic Church is called Moneenroe Church of the Sacred Heart and the foundation stone was blessed in 1928 and was dedicated 14 September 1930. The most striking feature inside this Church is the windows.[6] There is also a Church of Ireland church. The hall is called Moneenroe Parish Hall.[7]

Moneenroe National School is a co-educational school with a catholic ethos.[8][9][10]

The local government is Kilkenny County Council. Ballyragget and its rural area forms an Electoral District which includes Attanagh, Ballyragget, Castlecomer, Clogh, Coon, Moneenroe, Ardra and Muckalee. The County Council representatives from the Ballyragget electoral district are Maurice Shortall, Mary Hilda Cavanagh, Pay Millea, Dan Brennan and Catherine Connery.

In European Parliament elections Moneenroe is part of the South constituency for voting purposes. Moneenroe is part of the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency which is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann.

Agriculture employs about 100 people. The Castlecomer district has 60 farms. These range between 10 and 100 hectares with a total of 2003 hectares being farmed. There are 4451 cattle and 768 sheep, and farming is done with grassland machines, tillage machines, tractors, winter feeding and milking equipment. Specialist farms include beef production, dairy and mixed grazing livestock.

After the closure of the coal mines in the 1960s, there was mass emigration to the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia as people searched for work and a better life than that on the dole. Over the years there have been many factories which have closed in the locality leaving people to search for work in places such as Kilkenny, Carlow, Portlaoise and Dublin.

In the 1970s the building of the Avonmore plant in Ballyragget helped keep local young people in the area gain local employment and this continued with the jobs created when the plant was operational. The caravan manufacturing factory was briefly a large employer in the area before it closed down.

Castlecomer mills was also a major employer of clothing such as Lycra. However, this closed to a much cost-effective market in the Far East and has left a void for direct employment in the area since. However, further investment in the area came quickly when Roadstone (now called Ormonde brick) constructed a factory in Ardra for the manufacture of bricks for the building industry.

Railyard Gaelic football team or Railyard GFC was founded mainly by members of Moneenroe FCA in 1943.[11] The Railyard colours are red and white. The club were Senior football league winners in 2009.

Old Road Villa soccer club – currently no team entered in Carlow soccer league Junior divisions. A ladies team was entered in the Kilkenny and District league.

Castlecomer Camogie Club comprises players from all of the local primary schools in the area including Clogh, Moneenroe, Castlecomer and Firoda.[12]

Moneenroe is situated on the Dublin to Clonmel Bus Éireann bus route. Also, a private bus service Buggy's of Castlecomer has a daily bus service to and from Carlow town. Ring a Link is a community based rural transport which operates a route in the Northeast of the county covering Castlecomer, Ballyraggett, Coan, Conahy, Muckalee, Ballyouskill, Clogh and Moneenroe.[13]

It is known as the Unofficial Capital of North Kilkenny. Moneenroe was home to Nicholas Boran, a professed communist and union organiser in the Castlecomer mines.[14]