Ireland Travel Search: Connacht: County Roscommon Tourism Information Directory for Visitors to Ireland


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Ireland > Connacht > County Roscommon

County Roscommon is wet - think very wet - but this is Irish shamrock green country with lakes of water and wonderful patchwork fields of vivid shamrock green. It is the only county without any seashore within its borders, but it more than makes up for it with a very different feel about than its neighbouring seashore counties.

Its eastern boundary is framed by beautiful Lough Ree and the River Shannon with the fish filled River Suck (True! That's its name!) forming the boundary with County Mayo in the west, and Lough Key, Lough Gara and Lough Arrow on its northern boundaries.

Around the river flats and still meadows of the Loughs you will hear the lonely haunting (I think chilling - and immediately think of the Irish folktales of the Banshee) sound of the curlew, which is very reminiscent of this part of the countryside. The county is also renowned for a plethora of rich prehistoric monuments.

The capital of County Roscommon is called Roscommon - a typical convention among Irish counties. The Dominican Friary, south of the town centre, was founded in 1253 by Felim O'Connor, King of Connaught. In Roscommon's main street stands a former jail where the executioner for 30 years was a woman. "Lady Betty" as she was known, was sentenced to death for murdering her son but was pardoned when she agreed to become a hang-woman (or hang-person in today's gender correct times) - anyway, it puts a whole new slant on 'the punishment fitting the crime'?

A little to the north of the town of Roscommon is Roscommon Castle, built in 1269 by Roger d'Ufford, Lord Justice for Ireland. It was then burnt and rebuilt, burnt and rebuilt again, etc. etc. and fell into decay around the end of the 17th century. Also in the spacious main street is the beautifully renovated Bank of Ireland, once a courthouse, then the Catholic Church until 1903 and now a bank.

Boyle Abbey, established in 1161, is probably the best-preserved Cistercian abbey in Ireland. It escaped being torn down or vandalised by Oliver Cromwell's forces after the Suppression of the Monasteries Act of 1539, and was turned into a castle in 1569.

The region's history comes alive at the Kings of Connaught Interpretative Centre in King House, a Palladian mansion in Boyle.

An interesting tale - On the shores of Lough Meelagh there is ancient churchyard founded in the 6Th Century by St Ronan. Buried in the overgrown churchyard is Turlough O'Carolan who died in 1733. He was a blind troubadour or wandering poet who is alleged to have composed the melody behind the `Star Spangled Banner'. - I think by now that readers will have some idea of the significance of Ireland to America.

Frenchpark is the birthplace of Douglas Hyde, (1860-1949) the founder of the Gaelic League and the first President of the Republic of Ireland. He was, and remains in perpetuity a wonderful father figure to Ireland, and besides his great political achievements he almost single-handedly saved much of the rich oral (spoken) family history and folklore of Ireland from extinction by collecting and writing out thousands of oral folktales and stories collected from the Irish common people. Many of these tales and legends were many hundreds, even thousands of years old, passed down from generation to generation over this period.

About six miles southeast of Frenchpark is the Hill of Rathcroghan, a flat topped burial mound. The legendary Queen Maeve, warrior and earth goddess had a palace here in the 1st century. South of the Hill of Rathcroghan is the Graveyard of the Kings, which along with Kells in county Meath and Newgrange in County Louth, is one of the three royal burial places in ancient Ireland. In the graveyard area is an extremely old redstone pillar called the Pillar Stone of Daithi.

Daithi was a pagan king who around AD 425 conquered Scotland, whizzed across to Europe and took over a great part of that also and supposedly got to meet his gods in the Alps when he lit up like a Christmas tree after he was hit on the noggin by a lightning bolt around AD 427. Nearby at Carnfree are the inauguration mounds of the O'Connor's, the kings of Connacht. Close by to this is the Curachan Ai Visitors Centre who conduct extremely interesting guided tours of this mystical burial place of the kings of Connacht and Queen Maeve's palace. The area is reputedly one of the most important of all of Europe's Celtic royal burial sites.

Stokestown Park House, the 17th century ancestral home of the Mahons is uplifting to say the least. Yet another decaying old grand pile that was a major part of Ireland's history but falling to bits, it was purchased along with its contents by the local garage owner, Westward Garage Ltd in 1979, who in conjunction with the present curator is doing a grand job in renovating and restoring it to its former glory. The house was designed for Thomas Mahon in the 1730s by the German architect Richard Castle and incorporates parts of an earlier tower house, with the central block the residential part of the house. The north wing has Ireland's last galleried kitchen (a gallery in the kitchen allowed the lady of the house to monitor the culinary preparation without having to actually be seen to be participating overseeing the preparations) and the south wing is the elaborate vaulted stable described by one observer as 'a cathedral for horses'. The study contains a great collection of documents dealing with the potato famine (The Great Hunger) of the 1840s.

King House is being restored by the Roscommon County Council who in 1989 recognised the historical, architectural and cultural importance of this grand house and began a massive restoration project. Using older highly skilled local craftsmen employing traditional techniques and materials, all three floors and the basement have been wonderfully restored. Of particular note are the main entrance gallery with its tripate windows and original fireplace, the extensive vaulted ceilings on all floors and the splendid main salon, which is in use once again as a great venue for recitals and banquets. Since 1788, when the King Family moved to Rockingham, the house has been used as a military barracks - recently by the Irish Army but originally by the Connaught Rangers who fought bravely and with great honour until, while in India, they heard of the atrocities being committed back in Ireland by the 'Black and Tans' and mutinied. The house also now contains an impressive museum detailing the military use of the house throughout its life.





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