In the past many from Moneenroe worked at the coal mines at Deerpark Mines which closed in the 1960s.
Geography
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. 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.
Demographics
As of the 2006 census, by the Central Statistics Office, Moneenroe's population was 688. This was a 1.5% increase since 2002. As of the 2006 census, there was an exact 50%/50% split of males and females in the village. As of 2016 census, the population had increased to 722.
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 constructed a factory in Ardra for the manufacture of bricks for the building industry.
Sport
Railyard Gaelic football team or Railyard GFC was founded mainly by members of Moneenroe FCA in 1943. 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.
Transport
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.
Culture
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.
