AMASSAbbeyknockmoy and Monivea
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If You Live in These Areas, This Affects You

In July 2025, the proposed Bellville solar project was described as covering approximately 1,000 acres within Abbeyknockmoy parish and its neighbouring areas, with over 400 acres in the Laragh Beg / Ballyglunin area. The planning application lodged in August 2026 gave the site area as 239 hectares (about 590 acres).

Initial Areas Impacted by Phase 1 (July 2025) Include:

  • Laragh Beg
  • Ballyskeagh
  • Kilskeagh Hill
  • Cloonavadogue
  • Carrowreagh East
  • Caherlissakill
  • Lissaniska
  • Oakwood South
  • Farravaun
  • Belleville
  • Cahernaglass
  • Carrowmore
  • Cashlaundarragh
  • Ryehill Demesne
  • Parkacurry
  • Ballynaboorkagh
  • Knockauncarragh
  • Monivea

Construction would bring months of heavy vehicle traffic on local rural roads, causing noise, road wear, and disruption. If you live in these areas or surrounding areas, this development would directly affect your home, land, access routes, and quality of life.

Don’t let nearby residents remain unaware - please share this site and get involved today.

Why We're Taking a Stand

Our land is being targeted for speculative energy projects that do not serve the best interests of our community. These projects are profit-driven and risk undermining local food production, biodiversity and the rural way of life. We're not anti-renewables - we're pro-community, pro-farming and pro-common sense.

Frequently Asked Questions
  • Farming
  • Environment
  • Community
  • Biodiversity

Food Before Energy

Prime food-producing land should not be converted into energy plantations. Sustainable farming must remain central to Abbeyknockmoy & Monivea's future.

Nature Under Threat

Solar sprawl risks fragmenting habitats, draining wetlands and damaging biodiversity. We must protect what makes this place special.

Community First

We want smart, local renewables that empower communities, not enrich absentee developers. Decisions must be made with us, not to us.

📊 Calculate Your Property Impact

See YOUR risk from Bellville Solar + BESS (30 seconds)

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  • 📏 Distance to BESS & solar sites
  • 💰 Property devaluation estimates
  • ⚠️ Health & safety risk assessment
  • 📋 Regulatory compliance indicators

"I feel now that they've taken the home away from me. It's not a home. It's a house."

— Meath resident, living next to solar farm (Irish Times, Aug 2025)

Key Facts

Concrete figures about what's at stake in Abbeyknockmoy & Monivea.

850 Acres of productive farmland and natural habitats threatened by proposed industrial solar developments in Abbeyknockmoy & Monivea (July 2025 estimate).
85% Estimated proportion of prime agricultural land lost permanently to solar infrastructure during the lifespan of a typical industrial solar power plant.
0 In-person public consultations held after the first event in June 2025, despite the promise of a second.
The proposed solar development is backed by large international investment firms, including French private equity owners, raising concerns about local accountability and long-term community benefits.
Large-scale solar power plants permanently remove productive farmland from food production for decades.
Panels, fencing, and infrastructure up to 3 metres high turn open countryside into an industrial zone, visible for miles around.
Evidence suggests property values near large solar installations often stagnate or decline due to industrialisation of the rural landscape.
Even after construction, inverters and transformers emit a constant low hum that can carry across quiet rural areas.
Security floodlights and motion-activated lighting increase light pollution, disturbing wildlife and rural night skies.
Habitat fragmentation caused by solar infrastructure disrupts wildlife movement, breeding patterns, and biodiversity.
Heavy construction equipment compacts soil, reducing fertility and increasing erosion risk long-term.
Herbicides are often applied beneath solar panels, posing risks to soil health and nearby ecosystems.
Decommissioning solar sites and restoring ecosystems is a lengthy process with uncertain full recovery outcomes.
While renewables are vital, placing industrial solar on prime farmland sacrifices food security and biodiversity unnecessarily.
Industrial solar developments frequently face strong local opposition due to their scale, land use, and visual impact.
Solar power plants do contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by generating renewable energy - but local costs must not be ignored.

Stand with Abbeyknockmoy & Monivea

Join the growing movement to protect our land, our livelihoods and our future.

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