Editing Roscommon (section)

==Architecture==

[[File:Roscommon Castle - aerial - 2024-12-27 14.jpg|thumb|Roscommon Castle, aerial view]]
'''Roscommon Castle''' is located on a hillside just outside the town. Now in ruins, the castle is quadrangular in shape, it had four corner D-shaped towers, three storeys high, and twin towers at its entrance gateway, one of which still retains its immensely sturdy vaulted roof. The entire castle was enclosed by a lofty [[curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]]. It was built in 1269 by Robert de Ufford, [[Justiciar of Ireland]], on lands he had seized from the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Priory]].<ref>[http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Heritage/Publications/RCC_Exploring_Roscommon_Castle_in_Medieval_Times.pdf Exploring Roscommon Castle in Medieval Times]</ref> The castle had a most chequered history. It was besieged by [[Connacht]] King Aodh Ó Conchobhair in 1272.

Eight years later it was again in the hands of an [[England|English]] [[garrison]], and fully repaired. By 1340 the O'Connor's regained possession of it, and, except for a few brief intermissions, they held it for two centuries until 1569, when [[Sir Henry Sidney]], [[Lord Deputy]] seized it. It was granted to Sir Nicholas Malbie, [[Elizabethan]] Governor of [[Connacht|Connaught]], in 1578. Two years later the interior was remodelled and large mullioned windows were inserted in the towers and curtain walls. Again, in 1641 the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] faction gained it until [[Confederate Catholics]] under Preston captured it in 1645.

It remained in Irish hands until 1652 when it was partially blown up by [[Cromwellian]] "[[Ironside (cavalry)|Ironsides]]" under Commissary Reynolds, who had all the fortifications dismantled. It was finally burned down in 1690, and, from the closing years of the 17th-century, it gradually fell into decay. A symmetrical moat some distance from the curtain walls surrounded the entire castle and safeguarded it. It is now a national monument.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Heritage/Publications/Roscommon_Castle_-_the_history_of_a_national_landmark_Leaflet.pdf |title=Roscommon Castle - The History of a National Landmark |access-date=24 September 2012 |archive-date=31 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131034518/http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Heritage/Publications/Roscommon_Castle_-_the_history_of_a_national_landmark_Leaflet.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Ros Comáin 1.jpg|thumb|Harrison Hall, former courthouse and market house, now a bank]]
'''Harrison Hall''' is located prominently in the market square and is now occupied by the [[Bank of Ireland]]. Most of the ground floor was originally open to the public as a market hall with a Sessions room above. A 17th-century sessions house was originally located on the same site. Following a partial collapse of the two-storey sessions house, it was rebuilt in 1762 by Ensor brothers as a courthouse and market house. It is built in the classical architectural style. After 1863, it was adapted for use as a [[Catholic Church]], a [[cupola]] was added. After 1903 it became a recreational hall to commemorate [[John Harrison (doctor)|John Harrison]] (who was a physician in Roscommon town's workhouse, during the famine of the 1840s) it was used as a dance hall, cinema and theatre before it was sold to the Bank of Ireland in 1972.

[[File:The Old Gaol, Roscommon - 2024-12-27.jpg|thumb|The Old Gaol]]
'''The old [[gaol]]''' is located at the northern end of the square and faces the back of Harrison Hall. The original building was designed by Richard Cassells and completed in 1745.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roscommontownheritage.com/history-and-heritage/10/the-old-gaol.php|title=Buildings}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mulcahy |first=Orna |date=18 January 1996 |title=Old jail in Roscommon looks for a new governor |work=The Irish Times |pages=29}}</ref> The gaol had the distinction of having a hang woman, '[[Elizabeth Sugrue|Lady Betty]]', a criminal who had her sentence withdrawn on the provision that she perform the unpaid task of hang woman. A new gaol was built on the site of the current Garda station in 1814, and in 1822 the old gaol was taken over for use as a [[lunatic asylum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roscommontownheritage.com/history-and-heritage/9/the-new-jail.php|title = Buildings}}</ref> In 1833 it became a 'Lazaretto'&nbsp;– a place where outcasts who suffered from [[smallpox]] were confined. Sometime after 1840 the building was converted to residential and commercial use.<ref>[http://buildingsofireland.com/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=RO&regno=31817008 Roscommon Jail Building]</ref> All but the facade of the building was demolished by a developer in the 1980s and a car park and structure containing retail, office, restaurant and residential units were constructed on the site in the late 1990s.

[[File:Roscommon County Museum - 2024-12-27 01.jpg|thumb|Former Presbyterian Church, now the county museum and tourist office]]
'''[[Roscommon County Museum|Roscommon County Museum and Tourism Office]]''' is located next to Harrison hall in the town square. It was originally a small [[Presbyterian]] church built in 1863, with the associated manse located next door. The building is of cut limestone with a large recessed door, circular headed windows and fenestration on the wheel window over the door is in the form of the '[[Star of David]]' to commemorate its Welsh Builders. The building was renovated in 1991 and now contains many exhibits and artefacts illustrating and interpreting the history of Roscommon. Among the artefacts on display is a 9th-century grave slab from St Comans Abbey and a [[Sheela na Gig]] from Rahara church.

'''St Coman's Church''' is a Church of Ireland church constructed in 1775.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/31817021/st-comans-church-of-ireland-church-ballypheasan-county-roscommon | title=Saint Coman's Church (Roscommon), Henry Street, BALLYPHEASAN, Roscommon, ROSCOMMON }}</ref>

[[File:Roscommon St. Mary's Priory Choir Tomb 2014 08 28.jpg|thumb|Effigy of [[Felim O'Connor (d. 1265)|King Felim Ua Conchobair]] in Roscommon Abbey]]
'''[[Roscommon Abbey]]''' is on the outskirts of the core of the town, and is reachable by a path at the back of the Abbey Hotel running alongside the Abbey boys' school. It was founded just over 750 years ago by [[King]] Felim O'Connor ([[irish language|Irish]]: Fedlimid Ó Conchobair) of [[Kingdom of Connacht|Connacht]], who was buried there himself in 1265. The [[effigy]] in a niche on the north side of the chancel is either that of himself (but carved 35 years or more after his death), or of one of his successors; dating from around 1300, it shows a king dressed in a long robe and mantle of a kind that suggests he may have been aping an English regal costume of the period, an idea supported by the fact that he carries a sceptre with fleur-de-lis head in his right hand. The tomb front supporting his effigy slab (but not originally belonging to it) bears eight niches containing fifteenth-century carved figures of [[gallowglasses]], [[mercenaries]] of [[Scottish people|Scottish]] origin who played a major role in [[Irish wars]] of the Later [[Middle Ages]]. These have their bodies protected by a coat of mail and each wears a helmet known as a [[bascinet]]. All are armed with a sword, except one who bears an axe-like sparth, a typical [[gallowglass]] weapon.

Usually called the 'Abbey', it is more accurately described as a [[friary]], it was created for [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friars. During the course of its existence, it experienced many misfortunate events, starting with a fire in 1270, a lightning strike in 1308, and having [[Lord Audley]] take large sums of money deposited in it by the poor people of the town for the use of his army against a king of Connacht. But the main part of the church must have survived these misfortunes, for much of its existing fabric dates from the thirteenth century, as seen in the style of the lancet windows in the north and south walls. The east wall of the church probably had five such windows grouped and graded together, but they were replaced in the fifteenth century by one single large traceried window which probably shed more light inside during the morning. At the same period, a chapel&nbsp;— also with a large window&nbsp;— was added to the north, at right angles to an aisle which is separated from the [[nave]] by an arcade supported by round columns which still partially survive. Suppressed at the [[Reformation]], the ruined buildings were denuded of their majestic tower, and probably also of the cloister to the south, when they served as a handy stone-quarry for their owner.<ref>[http://www.culturalheritageireland.ie/index.php/heritage-sites-and-centres/98-the-dominican-friary-of-roscommon-town-co-roscommon The Dominican Friary of Roscommon]</ref>

[[File:Roscommon Courthouse - aerial - 2024-12-27 02.jpg|thumb|Roscommon Courthouse]]
'''[[Roscommon Courthouse]]''' is located on Abbey Street. It was built in 1832 adjacent to the new gaol (now the site of Roscommon garda station) to replace the previous courthouse, which is now known as Harrison Hall and which currently houses a branch of the Bank of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roscommontownheritage.com/history-and-heritage/14/roscommon-courthouse.php|title = Buildings}}</ref><ref name="issuu.com">Roscommon People, 26 August 2016, pages 20-21, available at https://issuu.com/roscommonpeople/docs/2016.08.26</ref> The courthouse was severely damaged by fire in 1882 and was restored later in the 1880s.<ref name="issuu.com"/> The courthouse is the venue for sittings of Roscommon District and Circuit Courts (although they are currently sitting at a temporary alternative venue pending the refurbishment of the courthouse, which is in a dilapidated condition).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://roscommonherald.ie/2022/11/23/date-confirmed-for-first-court-sitting-at-temporary-courthouse/|title=Date confirmed for first court sitting at temporary courthouse|date=23 November 2022|website=Roscommon Herald}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://roscommonherald.ie/2022/12/20/first-sitting-of-roscommon-court-in-new-location-to-get-underway/|title=First sitting of Roscommon court in new location to get underway|date=20 December 2022|website=Roscommon Herald}}</ref> The floor of the entrance hall features a mosaic of the Roscommon crest and over the main staircase hangs a large portrait of [[Douglas Hyde]], the first [[president of Ireland]].

'''Roscommon County Library''' is situated in Abbeytown opposite the CBS secondary school. It was built in 1783 as a [[hospital]] (then known as an infirmary). It is a 3-storey over basement [[limestone]] structure. Two symmetrical wings flank the north and south end of a central portion. The right hand wing was traditionally used as the surgeons house. It was used as a hospital until 1941. Major reconstruction work was undertaken in 1989 and the building was refitted as the County Library.<ref>[http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=RO&regno=31817040 Roscommon Library Building]</ref>

'''Roscommon Barracks''' is located at the south end of the town, close to the railway station. It was designed as a military barracks by Pierce Archbold. It is the only William and Mary style building in the town, having commenced building in 1702 and having entered operation by 1704. In the late 19th century, it was converted for use as a police barracks by the RIC. It became vacant when the police barracks was moved to the site of the disused gaol beside the courthouse on Abbey Street, and in 1907 it was purchased for use as a residence by William and Mary Jane Black. William Black was an auctioneer and was appointed as magistrate for County Roscommon in 1917. During the 20th century, the building became vacant again, and was purchased by Roscommon County Council. It is now in a dilapidated condition.<ref>Delany, V. ''Roscommon Barracks'' (available at https://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/services/community/heritage/in-this-together-roscommon-heritage-online/roscommon-barracks-by-vincent-delany.pdf)</ref>

[[File:Sacred Heart Church, Roscommon - aerial - 2024-12-27 01.jpg|thumb|The Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart]]
'''[[Sacred Heart Church, Roscommon|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]]''' dominates the skyline of the town. The church spire is 52 m high. Built of local cut stone and opened in 1903, it was completed in 1925. The church is built on rising ground and fronted by a sunken [[grotto]]. Over the main door is a fine example of mosaic, carried out by the Italian firm of Salviate, depicting two bishops of the [[diocese of Elphin]] connected with the building of the church. The interior is equally impressive and contained a replica of the [[Cross of Cong]], the original of which was made in [[Fuerty]] between 1120 and 1123.<ref>[http://chooseireland.com/county/roscommon/the-sacred-heart-church-roscommon-town/ The Sacred Heart Church]</ref> This replica was stolen from the church in May 2016, and remains missing to this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.roscommonpeople.ie/anger-as-replica-cross-of-cong-stolen-from-church/|title = Anger as replica Cross of Cong stolen from Church|date = 26 May 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Old County Workhouse - geograph.org.uk - 1891932.jpg|thumb|Former workhouse, now the Sacred Heart Home]]

'''[[Sacred Heart Hospital (Roscommon)|Sacred Heart Home]]''', a former [[workhouse]], is situated on the outskirts of the town approximately 500m from the town on the golf links/ [[Curraghboy]] road. Outside this building is an [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Irish Famine]] Memorial. It was constructed on behalf of the people of Roscommon in 1999, as a permanent memorial to the thousands of Roscommon people who perished in the Famine. It is built next to the master's residence of the Workhouse. The workhouse building was constructed in 1840, in response to a sudden increase in [[extreme poverty]] and [[famine]] in the Roscommon town area. Roscommon was severely affected during the great famine, with one of the highest death rates per population recorded in the whole of Ireland, during this period the population of Roscommon suffered a 31.5% drop. The workhouse was designed for 700 [[paupers]] but housed up to 1,600 people during the famine years.<ref>[http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Roscommon/ Roscommon Workhouse]</ref>

Hundreds flocked to the workhouse for sustenance and refuge. However, the workhouse could not cope with the numbers requiring assistance. This situation was reflected in a notice which was posted outside Roscommon Workhouse in January 1847, which stated that no new applicants seeking assistance could be admitted. Many who died there were buried in Bully's Acre, a short distance away.