Robert French (1716–1779) was a

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

and Member of Parliament. Robert French's family was one of

The Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway () were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Brown ...

. His ancestor Patrick Béag French (died 1630) was one of the two Galwaymen who successfully petitioned James II for a town charter, awarded in 1610. Patrick's great-grandson was Patrick "Silvertongue" French, who conformed to the Established Church and was the Robert's father. Robert French is remembered for being an improving landlord of his estates, centred on

Monivea Monivea () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. It is located approximately from Galway City and from Athenry. The village is in a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. It was formerly part of the kingdom of the Soghain ...

in central

. He rebuilt the village into its present spacious form, taught new farming techniques to his tenants and stood for election to the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

, a position impossible to aspire to had his father remained Catholic. He represented

from 1753 to 1760, Carrick from 1761 to 1768 and Galway Borough from 1769 to 1776. He married Nicolas, sister of Viscount Gosford, and had issue. He also had seven children by his mistress, Winifred Higgins.

References

* ''A Galway Gentleman in the Age of Improvement: Robert French of Monivea, 1716-76'', Denis A. Cronin, Irish Academic Press, August 1995, * ''Robert French of Monivea'', in ''Galway:History and Society'', 1996 1716 births 1779 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies Politicians from County Galway Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Leitrim constituencies {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub