Frenchpark
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Frenchpark Dún Gar
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| Town | |
 Frenchpark
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| Coordinates: 53°52′00″N 8°24′00″W / 53.8667°N 8.4°WCoordinates: 53°52′00″N 8°24′00″W / 53.8667°N 8.4°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Roscommon |
| Elevation | 82 m (269 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Urban | 454 |
| • Rural | 793 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | M737908 |
Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (Irish: Dún Gar, meaning "the fort of favour"), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland on the N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French Park Estate was until 1952 the ancestral seat of the French family, Barons de Freyne. The estate was sold to the Irish Land Commission in the 1950s and was dismantled by the mid 1970s. An historic smokehouse is one of the few remaining legacies of this period.
Frenchpark - The Ciarrage groups here were the early lords of Airteach. Mac Donagh is cited as later lords of Airtech. The O'Flanagan here were hereditary stewards to the Kings of Connacht.
Dominican Priory of the Holy Cross, Cloonshanville. This was sacked during the Cromwellian campaign of the 1650s. Part of the tower still stands (in a ruined state). The site is still used as the local cemetery.
The French family, originally from Galway, became the dominant landowners in this part of Roscommon in the late seventeenth century. Dominick French was granted 5000 acres of land in County Roscommon and his son John a further 2000 acres. John's wealth and influence were such that he was nicknamed An Tiarna Mor (the Great Lord).
In the 1749 Census of Elphin it was the residence of Arthur French, MP in the Parliament of Ireland who was the eldest son of John (An Tiarna Mor) and his wife Anne Gore. His son Arthur (1764-1820) was also an MP who was said to have died "from excessive fox hunting". Members of the French family were buried in the graveyard surrounding the ruins of Frenchpark Priory. At the time of Griffith's Valuation Frenchpark was owned by Rev. John Ffrench, Lord de Freyne and was valued at £60. Later in the 1800s the family converted to Roman Catholicism.
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