About County Roscommon
County Roscommon sits at the heart of Connacht, bounded by the Shannon to the east and stretching west toward the Connacht lakeland. The county is flat and understated in its beauty, its landscape of small fields, lakes and bogs concealing a deep history. Roscommon was the heartland of the O'Connor kings, the last High Kings of Ireland.
History
The O'Conor Don family, descendants of the last High Kings, still lives in Roscommon today, one of the few Gaelic dynasties to survive the plantation era with some of its heritage intact. The county's position at the centre of Connacht made it the focus of the land agitation movements of the 19th century, and evictions here inspired some of the most significant political campaigns of the era.
How Roscommon families left Ireland
Roscommon was severely affected by the Famine, one of the most notorious episodes of the period was the clearance of the Strokestown estate, where thousands of tenants were evicted and shipped to Canada. The Famine Museum at Strokestown tells this story with great clarity.
Places worth visiting in County Roscommon
- Strokestown Park and the Irish National Famine Museum, one of the most important Famine sites in Ireland
- Roscommon Castle, the formidable Norman castle built to control the province of Connacht
- Cruachan AĆ, the legendary royal site of the Connacht kings, one of Ireland's great archaeological landscapes
- Lough Key Forest Park, the beautiful lakeland estate with castle ruins and island follies
Is your surname from County Roscommon?
Enter your Irish family name and we will tell you whether it is connected to Roscommon, and build you a personalised Heritage Package for your visit.
Trace your surname ā