| County Roscommon | |||
| Native Name: | Irish: Contae Ros Comáin | ||
| Settlement Type: | County | ||
| Native Name Lang: | ga | ||
| Motto: | Latin: Constans Hiberniae Cor "Steadfast Irish heart" | ||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||
| Subdivision Name: | Ireland | ||
| Subdivision Type1: | Province | ||
| Subdivision Name1: | Connacht | ||
| Subdivision Type2: | Region | ||
| Subdivision Name2: | Northern and Western | ||
| Seat Type: | County town | ||
| Seat: | Roscommon | ||
| Leader Title: | Local authority | ||
| Leader Name: | Roscommon County Council | ||
| Leader Title2: | Dáil constituencies | ||
| Leader Title3: | EP constituency | ||
| Leader Name2: | Roscommon–Galway Sligo–Leitrim | ||
| Leader Name3: | Midlands–North-West | ||
| Area Total Km2: | 2548 | ||
| Area Rank: | 11th | ||
| Area Footnotes: | [1] | ||
| Population Total: | 70,259 | ||
| Population Density Km2: | auto | ||
| Population As Of: | 2022 | ||
| Population Footnotes: | [2] | ||
| Population Rank: | 26th | ||
| Blank Name Sec1: | Vehicle index mark code | ||
| Blank Info Sec1: | RN | ||
| Timezone: | WET | ||
| Utc Offset: | ±0 | ||
| Timezone Dst: | IST | ||
| Utc Offset Dst: | +1 | ||
| Established Title: | Established | ||
| Established Date: | [3] [4] | ||
| Area Code Type: | Telephone area codes | ||
| Area Code: | 071, 090 (primarily) | ||
| Postal Code Type: | Eircode routing keys | ||
| Postal Code: | F42, F45, F52 (primarily) | ||
| Elevation Max M: | 428 | ||
| Elevation Max Point: | Seltannasaggart | ||
| Module: |
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County Roscommon (Irish: Contae Ros Comáin) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the 11th largest Irish county by area and 26th most populous. Its county town and largest town is Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 69,995 as of the 2022 census.[2]
County Roscommon is named after the county town of Roscommon. Roscommon comes from the Irish Ros meaning a wooded, gentle height and Comán, the first abbot and bishop of Roscommon who founded the first monastery there in 550 AD.[5]
County Roscommon has an area of .[1] Lough Key in north Roscommon is noted for having thirty-two islands. The geographical centre of Ireland is located on the western shore of Lough Ree in the south of the county.[6]
Roscommon is the third largest of Connacht's five counties by size and the second-smallest in terms of population. It ranks 11th in size of Ireland's 32 counties, but 26th in terms of population, making it the 3rd most sparsely populated county after Leitrim and Mayo. The county borders every other Connacht county: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Leitrim, as well as three Leinster counties: Longford, Westmeath, and Offaly. In 2008, a news report said that statistically, people from Roscommon have the longest life expectancy of any county on the island of Ireland.[7]
Seltannasaggart, which is located along the northern border with County Leitrim, is the tallest point in County Roscommon, measuring to a height of 4282NaN2.[8]
According to the 2016 census:[1]
There are nine historical baronies in County Roscommon.
North Roscommon
South Roscommon
Rathcroghan (Irish: Rath Cruachán), near Tulsk, a complex of archaeological sites, the home of Queen Medb (Irish: Méadhbh, anglicised Maeve), was the seat of Kings of Connacht and then to the High Kings of Ireland. This was the starting point of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, an epic tale in Irish mythology. The county is home to prehistoric ringforts such as Carnagh West Ringfort and Drummin fort.
County Roscommon as an administrative division has its roots in the Middle Ages. With the conquest and division of the Kingdom of Connacht, those districts in the east retained by King John as "The King's Cantreds" covered County Roscommon, and parts of East Galway. These districts were leased to the native kings of Connacht and eventually became the county. In 1585 during the Tudor re-establishment of counties under the Composition of Connacht, Roscommon was established with the South-west boundary now alongside the River Suck.
A "well defined" and "original" fine metal workshop was active in County Roscommon in the 12th century. The Cross of Cong, the Aghadoe crosier, Shrine of the Book of Dimma and Shrine of Manchan of Mohill' are grouped together as having been created by Mael Isu Bratain Ui Echach et al., at the same Roscommon workshop. The workshop has been linked to St. Assicus of Elphin.
John O'Donovan (1806–1861), historian and scholar, visited County Roscommon in 1837, while compiling information for the Ordnance Survey. Entering St Peter's parish in Athlone in June 1837, he wrote, "I have now entered upon a region totally different from Longford, and am very much pleased with the intelligence of the people." However, he had major problems with place-names. He later wrote, "I am sick to death's door of lochawns, and it pains me to the very soul to have to make these remarks, but what can I do when I cannot make the usual progress? Here I am stuck in the mud in the middle of Loughs, Turlaghs, Lahaghs and Curraghs, the names of many of which are only known to a few old men in their immediate neighbourhood and I cannot give many of them utterance from the manner in which they are spelled."[9] [10]
See also: List of National Monuments in County Roscommon.
See main article: Roscommon County Council. Roscommon is governed locally by the 18-member Roscommon County Council, a body created under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.
The 1898 Act also divided the county into the rural districts of Athlone No. 2, Ballinasloe No. 2, Boyle No. 1, Carrick-on-Shannon No. 2, Castlerea, Roscommon, and Strokestown.[11] The rural districts were abolished in 1925.[12] Boyle and Roscommon were administered locally by town commissioners.[13] Roscommon town commissioners were abolished in 1927. After becoming a town council in 2002,[14] in common with all other town councils in Ireland, Boyle Town Council was abolished under the Local Government Reform Act 2014.[15]
For general elections, Roscommon is mostly within the three-seat Dáil constituency of Roscommon–Galway, with a portion of the county in the Sligo–Leitrim constituency. For European elections, the county is part of the Midlands–North-West constituency.
There are railway stations located in Boyle (Dublin–Sligo line), Carrick-on-Shannon (Dublin–Sligo line), Roscommon (Dublin–Westport line), Castlerea (Dublin-Westport line), Ballinasloe (Dublin-Galway line) and Athlone (Dublin–Galway and Dublin–Westport lines).
Gaelic football is the dominant sport in Roscommon. Roscommon won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1943 and 1944 and the National Football League Division 1 in 1979, as well as Division 2 in 2015 and 2018. Roscommon have captured the Connacht Senior Football Championship on 23 occasions, the most recent being in 2019.
Roscommon's main hurling title was the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup.
Soccer and rugby are also popular sports in the county.