Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [449]
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COUNTY ROSCOMMON
Studded with over 5000 megalithic tombs, ring forts and mounds, and home to a couple of excellent museums, Roscommon is a haven for history buffs. Add to the mix a couple of well-preserved mansions and some wonderful monastic ruins and it’s hard to understand why the county sees so few visitors. Beyond the romance of times past, Roscommon has plenty of rolling countryside littered with lakes and cleaved by the Rivers Shannon and Suck – attributes much appreciated by visiting anglers.
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STROKESTOWN & AROUND
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Strokestown’s main street is a grand tree-lined avenue that remains a testament to the lofty aspirations of one of the local landed gentry who wished it to be Europe’s widest. It’s a striking feature in what is a now a sleepy town most notable for its historic estate and famine museum
Over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, the town bursts into life during the International Poetry Festival (www.strokestownpoetry.org).
Strokestown Park House & Famine Museum
At the end of Strokestown’s main avenue, three Gothic arches lead to Strokestown Park House ( 071-963 3013; www.strokestownpark.ie; admission house, museum & gardens €14, house or museum or gardens €9.50; museum & grounds 10am-5.30pm mid-Mar–Oct, house tours 11.30am, 2pm & 4pm Mon-Fri, 5pm Sat & Sun mid-Mar–Oct, 2pm Mon-Fri Nov–mid-Mar).
The original 12,000-hectare estate was granted by King Charles II to Nicholas Mahon for his support in the English Civil War. Nicholas’ grandson Thomas commissioned Richard Cassels to build him a Palladian mansion in the early 18th century. Over the centuries, the estate decreased in size along with the family’s fortunes. When it was eventually sold in 1979, it had been whittled down to 120 hectares. The estate was bought as a complete lot, so virtually all of its remaining contents are intact.
Admission to the house is by a 50-minute guided tour, taking in a galleried kitchen with state-of-the-art clockwork machinery, and a child’s bedroom complete with 19th-century toys and fun-house mirrors.
The walled garden contains the longest herbaceous border in Ireland and Britain, which blooms in a rainbow of colours in summer.
In direct and deliberate contrast to the splendour of the house and its grounds is the harrowing Strokestown Famine Museum, which sheds light on the devastating 1840s potato blight. There’s a huge amount of information to take in, with long panels of text that require some concentration, but you’ll emerge with an unblinking insight into the starvation of the poor, and the ignorance, callousness and cruelty of those who were in a position to help. Strokestown landlord Major Denis Mahon ruthlessly evicted starving peasants who couldn’t pay their rent, chartering boats to transport them away from Ireland. Almost 600 of these 1000 emigrants died on the overcrowded ‘coffin ships’. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mahon was assassinated by some of his tenants in 1847. The museum also opens visitors’ eyes to present-day famine around the world. Allow at least a half-day visit if your wish to see the house, museum and gardens.
Cruachan Aí Visitor Centre
Anyone with an interest in Celtic mythology will be enthralled by the area around the village of Tulsk, which contains 60 ancient national monuments including standing stones, barrows, cairns and fortresses, making it the most important Celtic royal site in Europe. The landscape and its sacred structures have lain largely undisturbed for the past 3000 years. It’s hard to grasp just how significant the site is, as archaeological digs are still ongoing, but it has already been established that the site is bigger and older than Tara in County Meath and was at one time a major seat of Irish power.
The Cruachan Aí Visitor Centre ( 071-963 9268; www.cruachanai.com; Tulsk; adult/child €5/3; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 1-6pm Sun Jun-Oct, 9am-5pm Mon-Sat Nov-May) has audiovisual displays and informative panels and maps that explain the significance