The Minnitts of Anabeg

The story of the Minnitts starts with the arrival of Cromwell.  As Officers in his army, the Minnitts were given houses and land. For centuries there were instances of abuse; one descendent was told to pray for raping a local girl.   
By the 1800’s, though, the Minnitts were well respected and Joshua Minnitt, his wife and son Robert, were only concerned with the well being of the community.  The famine descended and all life changed.  Joshua worked to create jobs and introduce new laws that would provide water and food for families leaving for the new world. He argued with the British government to reduce the food stock that was being taken from Ireland to feed British forces abroad.  He reconstructed derelict buildings to act as work houses and created jobs building roads.  Robert was equally committed.  He worked covertly with the local Catholic newspaper reporter to expose corruption in the workhouses.  They despaired as people collapsed in the street, dead from mal nutrition, while English gentry feasted only yards away.  After years of fighting the famine the reputation of the Minnitts was recorded in history as the family that saved many thousands of Irish Catholics.  
But Joshua’s passion and drive to save the community could not protect his family.  When his only son announced that he was marrying a local Catholic girl, he had to be disinherited.  The protocol of English landed gentry was too strong and Joshua’s ‘honour’ was at stake.  The son was given a small house on the edge of the land and given the job of postman he never spoke to his father again.

This is based on a true story and Anabeg, the family home of the MInnitts, still exists today.