Roscommon

Province

Roscommon ( Irish: Ros Comáin ) is a city in western central inland of the Republic of Ireland and the capital of the county of the same name.

History

The name Roscommon is derived from the Holy Coman, who built on the site of the present town in the 5th century as a monastery. The forests around the monastery became known as Saint Coman 's Wood or Irish as Ros Comáin. This was later anglicised to Roscommon.

In 1253 a monastery of the Dominicans was here by Felim O'Connor, a king in Connacht, was founded. The Castle in Roscommon, built in 1269, is an Anglo-Norman fortress.

Presence

Today, Roscommon has located far away from the major traffic flows, most likely the importance of a market town for the surrounding countryside. The population was arrived at Roscommon Census 2006 4,489 people. By Dr. Hyde Park, the city has, however, to have a venue of national importance since 1969; the stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association hold 30,000 visitors and is also the home of the local Gaelic football and hurling teams. Southeast of Roscommon Lough Ree is the one of the three major lakes in the course of the Shannon.

The nearest large towns are Longford and Athlone to the northeast to the southeast; Dublin in the east is 145 km away Roscommon, Galway in the south-west 75 km to reach beyond the N63. Bus Éireann Roscommon connects several times daily with the Busáras in Dublin as with the other major Irish cities. On the rail transport in Ireland Roscommon - still connected - in contrast to many other Irish cities of its size; the station was opened in 1860.