P.P.
O’Connor. Ltd.
Tel: 0160 776 0333
Roscommon.. is an inland county where the main attraction is the beauty of island-dotted lakes. Much of the county is level plain, bogland and river meadow - broken with low hills and many lakes. The highest point (1,385 feet) is on the County Leitrim border in the north; also prominent are the Curlew Hills (867 feet) in the north-west and the Slievebawn hills (864 feet in the east).The county's eastern boundary is formed by the River Shannon and its lakes. Located on Ireland's fertile central plain, the county has an area of 2,463 sq km (951 sq mi). Most of the county is situated between the Shannon River, to the east, and its chief tributary, the Suck River, to the west. Roscommon, in the province of Connacht, was home to the last of Ireland's High Kings, King Rory O'Connor, whose home, Clonalis House is a library for the O'Connor Clan, and is open to the public. Strokestown house, is now the national Famine Museum, commemorating the Great Hunger. Roscommon, mainly a farming county, also benefits from tourism on the Shannon river, Lough Ree, Lough Arrow and Lough Key. The neolithic monuments in the Curlew mountains in the north attract a steady flow of European visitors.
Castlerea... (Irish: An Caisleán Riabhach) is located in the west of County Roscommon, Ireland. It is the second largest town in the county with a population of 2842 (as of 2006). Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea can mean Brindled Castle (Caisleán Riabhach) or King's Castle (Caisleán Rí). The town is built on the River Suck and the River Francis (aka River Cloonard), both tributaries of the River Shannon. Clonalis House, just west of the town, is the ancestral home of the Clan O'Conor: the last High Kings of Ireland. The dynasty gave eleven high kings to Ireland and twenty four kings to Connacht. The family traces back to Feredach the Just in 75 A.D. and is Europe's oldest recorded family. The 45 room mansion was built in 1878 and contains a priceless collection of archival material, illustrating a tradition going back 60 generations. The first president of Ireland and founder of the Gaelic League, Dr. Douglas Hyde was born in Castlerea on 17th January 1860. Castlerea was also the birthplace in 1815 of Sir William Wilde, educated in the diocesan school in Elphin and father of the celebrated dramatist and wit, Oscar Wilde. Dr. Matthew Young, Bishop of Clonfert ca. 1798, an eminent natural philosopher and mathematician, was a native of Castlerea. The Roman Catholic bishop Thomas Finnegan was born in the town. Other notable people from the town include the poet Michael McGovern and the fur trader Andrew McDermot. On the 11th of July 1921 an RIC man (Sgt. James King) was shot in Patrick St., Castlerea, Co. Roscommon and died of his wounds shortly afterwards. Later that day the July 11th truce was called ending the War of Independence. No one was ever prosecuted for the murder and no investigations concerning the murder were ever undertaken. It was the last shot fired in the Irish War of Independence. Detective Garda John Francis Morley and Garda Henry Gerrard Byrne were shot dead while in pursuit of INLA bank robbers at Aghaderry near Castlerea on the 7th of July 1980 [2]. The town is the home and birthplace of Irish Times columnist, John Waters and cannabis legalisation advocate, Cllr. Luke 'Ming the Merciless' Flanagan. The town also has a prison and "Hell's Kitchen" the only pub in Ireland with a train inside. Hell's Kitchen also contains a Railway Museum, probably the most unusual museum building in Ireland. Sean Browne’s railway museum includes a 1955 A55 diesel locomotive. It is open 7 days a week and is a treasure trove for railway enthusiasts. On display are bells, lamps, shunting poles, signal equipment etc. The museum has no official links with Castlerea railway station. In Association Football, Castlerea Celtic are the 2006 Ruby Oil Roscommon and district Premier league and cup champions, having achieved the double for the first time since 1979. There has been a large increase in the popularity of soccer in the town in recent years. A fine new clubhouse and Astroturf facility has recently been built by Castlerea Celtic.
To advertise please contact
Margaret Casserley
0161 872 2474
0161 872 2474
or
Yvonne Sarsfield
0161 941 5182
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