Roscommon

Roscommon, county in the province of Connaught, north-central Ireland. It is bounded by Counties Sligo (north), Leitrim (northeast), Longford and Westmeath (east), Offaly (southeast), Galway (southwest), and Mayo (west). The town of Roscommon, in the central part of the county, is the county town (seat), and there is a county manager.

Most of the county lies between the River Shannon and its major tributary, the River Suck. Athlone on the Shannon is the main point of entry to the county; north of it lies Lough (Lake) Ree and, farther upstream, Loughs Bofin and Boderg. Along most of its course are extensive water meadows known as callows. Between the Shannon and the Suck the landscape is a mixture of limestone surfaces 200–400 feet (60–120 metres) high and depressions varying from peat bogs to water meadows. There are also some eskers (long ridges of postglacial gravel) that are quarried extensively. Within this area sheep and cattle are raised, particularly on the limestone pastures, and oats, hay, and potatoes are the main crops. About three-fourths of the area is farmland, the rest peat bog. To the east of Boyle the rich limestone grasslands, known as the Plains of Boyle, are famed as cattle pastures. Farms are small, with a concentration on cattle. To the northeast of Roscommon town, the Slieve Bawn ridge rises to 846 feet (258 metres).

The area is greatly dependent on agriculture, though there is some light industry. The towns have a strong retail trade and monthly fairs, however, and coal mining in Ireland was centred at Arigna until the mine’s closure. The Famine Museum (1994), located at Strokestown Park, commemorates the Irish Potato Famine of 1845–49.

In antiquity, northwestern County Roscommon was MacDermott country, and part of the south was under O’Kelly occupation. By the Composition of Connaught (1585) a large number of lords and chieftains of the province were given tenure in their territories under English law. Because Connaught and Clare were left by Oliver Cromwell to Irish proprietors after the English conquest in the 17th century, this part of Ireland retained its Irish social pattern longer than any other, though it was affected by the penal laws, the land acts, and other social changes that were imposed upon Ireland generally. Area 983 square miles (2,548 square km). Pop. (2002) 53,774; (2011) 64,065.