Motto: One heart, one mind
The Ffrench family, one of the Tribes of Galway, descended from Norman nobles who followed William the Conqueror. Their Irish presence began in Wexford before spreading west. Walter French arrived in Galway around 1425, followed later by Henry Begg French under Elizabeth I. The family held major estates at Castle French, Monivea, and Frenchgrove. Charles, Baron Ffrench, was elevated to the peerage in 1798.
The first person of the name to become Mayor was John French in 1538. He erected a chapel on the south side of the Franciscan Friary which stood outside the wall of Galway. Many of the French family acquired estates in Co. Galway and elsewhere in Connaught in the late 16th and early 17th cent. The French Park, Co. Roscommon branch produced Field Marshal Sir John French, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1920, and his redoubtable sister, the revolutionary Madame Despard.
The major buildings owned by the French family in Galway City in the medieval period were a fine tower house in Market St, the property of Sir Peter French, and another town house in Market St, that of Sir Oliver French, Mayor of Galway in 1650, as shown on the mid-seventeenth century map of the city.
The mansion house of Sir Peter French, knight was situated in Market Street, on the North side. The depiction of his mansion on the Pictorial Map of 1651 shows a very large tower with surrounding out-offices. (Marked as X on the map). After the Cromwellian confiscations, it was used as a nunnery. The building was in ruins by the late nineteenth century. During the 19th century, this building was known as De Burgo’s Mansion. It was demolished for the Connacht Tribune printing works by 1944. This building had been adorned by a decorative doorway, which was removed from the site in 1928 prior to the demolition. Today the Portershed occupies this site.
An elaborate memorial slab to Sir Peter French and his wife, Maria Browne, is preserved in the grounds of the Franciscan Church, The greater part of the monument was said to have been broken up by Cromwellian soldiers in 1653.
The mansion house of Sir Oliver French, knight was located also located on Market Street, and is noted on the 1651 Map. (Marked as &c on the map)
Another house of the Ffrench family, in Abbeygate St, contained the former Cooke’s Restaurant.
