Roscommon

Trains from Dublin Heuston take just under 2 hours to Roscommon. In the morning you usually take the train for Galway and change at Athlone. Later there are three direct trains via Portarlington, Tullamore, Clara and Athlone, which continue from Roscommon to Castlerea, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris (for Knock), Manulla Junction (for Ballina), Castlebar and Westport.

🌍 Roscommon railway station is in town centre. See Irish Rail for ticket deals.

There is no direct bus from Dublin, travel via Athlone. Bus Éireann 440 runs four times a day from Athlone, taking 30 min to Roscommon, and continues to Castlerea, Knock Airport, Castlebar and Westport. The bus stops in Roscommon are the hospital 500 m east of town centre, and the Mart Road.

Bus 433 runs between Roscommon and Galway, taking 90 min. There are 6 M-F, 3 Sa and two on Sunday.

Local Link Bus 570 makes 3 runs daily from Boyle via Elphin, Tulsk and Strokestown to Roscommon.

From Dublin follow M4, which becomes M6. Just past Athlone, take exit 12 onto N61 north.

• Roscommon town centre stands on the former highway north to Tulsk and Boyle, now bypassed to the east by N63. The best of it is "The Square" where the street divides around Harrison Hall to reunite in front of the facade of the Old Gaol.
• The Old Gaol in The Square is now a modern shopping centre, and the facade is all that remains of the 18th century original. In the 1790s this had a female executioner, Elizabeth Sugrue or "Lady Betty". Her life and deeds are embellished by folklore, but Sir William Wilde (Oscar's father) collected the tale not long after her reign. She supposedly murdered a man not recognising him as her long-lost son, and was about to be hanged for this with 25 other offenders but the hangman was ill. She volunteered to replace him and her career was launched, as were the 25 other wretches. In 1822 the gaol became a lunatic asylum and in 1833 a Lazaretto, a quarantine confinement for those with dangerous diseases such as smallpox. Sometime after 1840 the building was converted to residential and commercial use.
• Roscommon County Museum, The Square, ☏ +353 90 662-5613. M-F 10:00-17:00, Sa 10:00-14:00. The Museum and TIC are in a former Presbyterian Church built in 1863, a limestone building with a Star of David in the window over the door. Exhibits include a 9th century grave slab from St Comans Abbey, a dugout canoe, and a Sheela na Gig from Rahara church. Free. (updated Dec 2020)
• Harrison Hall in the centre of The Square was the 18th century court house. It's variously been a market hall, RC church, dance hall, cinema and theatre and since 1972 a bank. In the 20th century it was named for Dr John Harrison, who tended to 1840s famine victims in the town workhouse. You can look at the interior during bank opening hours.
• Roscommon Castle, Castle Street. 24 hours. Substantial ruin of a castle built in 1269 by Robert de Ufford, Justiciar of Ireland, on lands seized from the Augustinian Priory. (No point them complaining, the "Justiciar" was both the chief governor and the chief judge, with no "separation of powers"). Although besieged and assaulted several times, it remained largely intact until 1652 when Cromwell set about demolishing all such troublesome strongholds. It was then blown up and the fortifications dismantled, then just for good measure the remains burned down in 1690. Free. (updated Dec 2020)
• Roscommon County Library at the corner of Abbey St was built as an infirmary in 1783. This closed in 1941 and in 1989 it was re-fitted as the library, which is open Tu Th 13:00-20:00, W F Sa 10:00-13:00, 14:00-17:00.

• 🌍 Roscommon Friary, Circular Rd. 24 hours. Ruins of a Dominican Friary founded in 1253 on the site of a 12th C Augustinian priory destroyed by the Normans. Felim McHugh O'Connor, King of Connacht, was buried here in 1265; the effigy in the north chancel (in very Anglo-Norman regal get-up) is either him or a successor, while the fellows on the tomb front are 15th C mercenaries. The friary was suppressed at the Reformation and the stone of its tower and cloister removed. Free. (updated Dec 2020)
• 🌍 Sacred Heart Church, Abbey St. Impressive Catholic church in neo-Gothic completed in 1903, with the tower added in 1916. It has a sunken grotto, painted ceiling and mosaic floor. (updated Dec 2020)
• The Courthouse, located on Abbey Street, is a fine 1832 building, still in use. Until 2016 it also housed the County Council but since 2016 they're in a modern building adjacent.

• 🌍 Castlecoote House, Cooly (5 km west of town on R366), ☏ +353 90 666 3794. Jun-Aug W-Su 14:00-18:00. Grand Georgian manor, next to the ruins of the 16th C castle. Tours are only available Jun-Aug but the grounds are open Apr-Oct daily, €2. They also host the Percy French Festival in July, and regular courses in Biblical Hebrew. They may have accommodation. (updated Dec 2020)

• 🌍 Castlestrange Stone is a granite boulder with curving incised decorations of La Tène style, so it dates to 200 BC, though the cobble mounting and cattle grid are modern. This Celtic style appeared circa 500 BC in La Tène near Neuchâtel in Switzerland and spread across Europe, so it's become a marker for the extent of Celtic culture. Park at the bend in the public road and walk up the Desmesne driveway. There are three similar La Tène stones across Ireland, more or less in a line, what's that all about? - since they have no obvious astronomical alignment.

• 🌍 Castlerea Railway Museum, Main St, Castlerea, ☏ +353 87 230 8152. By arrangement. Large private collection of Irish rolling stock, equipment and fittings. Adult €5. (updated Jul 2021)
• 🌍 Rathcroghan, The Square, Tulsk (by junction of N5 and N61), ☏ +353 71 963 9268. M-Sa 09:00-17:00 plus May-Aug Su 12:00-16:00. Prehistoric complex accessed via guided tour starting from the visitor centre in Tulsk village. These start M-F at 12:00 plus May-Aug at 14:00 and take about 2 hours. There are some 240 sites in the complex, the tour takes in half a dozen such as Rathcroghan Mound and Oweynagat Cave. Adult €15, conc €13, child €6. (updated Dec 2020)
• 🌍 Strokestown Park, Strokestown F42 H282, ☏ +353 71 963 3013. Closed ufn. Magnificent Palladian mansion, but built upon ruthless exploitation of the tenantry, who were evicted or starved in great numbers. It incorporates the National Famine Museum. (updated Dec 2020)
• 🌍 Rinn Dúin or Rindoon is an abandoned medieval village on a headland in Lough Ree. The village and St John's Castle were built in 1227, and destroyed in raids in the 13th / 14th. There were attempts to rebuild in the 16th / 17th C - the windmill is from this period - but most of what you see is medieval. You're free to stroll the extensive site anytime.
• Don't see Athassel Priory: this extensive ruin is in Golden, near Cashel in County Tipperary, but as of Dec 2020 Google Map imagines it to be near Roscommon Racecourse. Clearly nonsense, since the Augustinian doctrine of Athassel discouraged the monks from going to the races.