You’ll find Roscommon located in the province of Connacht in the West of Ireland. Roscommon is the main town in County Roscommon,
Roscommon town can be accessed by land and sea via the boat from Fishguard or Holyhead Wales to Dublin or to Rosslare, Ireland.
If you are planning to go via ferry from the United Kingdom and wanting to book some self-catering accommodation around Ireland, please check out this link for ferries and self catering packages: http://tidd.ly/aeecb0fe
From London Gatwick you can get a plane to Knock Airport which is located in County Mayo on http://www.aerlingus.com this normally takes over an hour. Ryanair flies there too. Check out http://www.ryanair.com
At Knock airport you can easily hire a car from local and international brands such as Hertz for reasonable rates. If you plan to tour around, I would advise hiring a car.
You can also get a coach from outside the airport from Bus Eireann which is a great way to see the countryside! The trains aren’t so great in rural Ireland, so if you want to tour around, hire a car.
Once you arrive in the market town of Roscommon head to Roscommon Castle! It is free to walk around and an information board will tell you all about it!
Where else would you see Cows in the ruins of a castle?
There are plenty of public houses to visit in Roscommon with live music to boot. Go and visit them! Life is quiet and laid back here.
Go on have a pint of Guinness. When toasting, say Slainte pronounced sul -auncha which means cheers in Gaelic.
A definite recommendation is Regans Gastropub and Restaurant in Roscommon Town just by the square. Here you will get a warm welcome and hearty food and a great atmosphere.
Regans is next to Gleeson’s Hotel where the food is of great standard and boutique accomodation to boot.
Check out this website: http://tidd.ly/64ed2662 to book accommodation in Roscommon
Why not visit The Abbey Hotel quality food and a leisure centre. It is historic and has the Abbey ruins in the grounds.
Roscommon has a racecourse, I would definitely recommend for you to visit. Rural racing at it’s best with tractors parked in the carpark! I am not kidding. Races are always in the evening so the Farmers can attend after a busy day. Check out their website which is http://roscommonracecourse.ie to see when the races are on, you can buy tickets on the day. When I visited, I got in for free and I did win a few times on the horses!
The atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and fun and the craic (craic- meaning a great time) is fierce. Afterwards pop to The Abbey Hotel to listen to live entertainment or back into Roscommon Town
What to visit:
Drive to Strokestown where Strokestown Park House is. This is a must-see museum. It is the National Famine Museum which has an exhibition on the Potato Famine which is very important to Irish history. Their website is; http://www.strokestownpark.ie/
I would thoroughly recommend a tour around Strokestown Park House which will tell you about the family that lived there. There is a cafe there too and a shop.
It is lovely to walk around the park.
You can rent accomodation there. I was lucky to stay in a Mews Cottage. This was my view from our garden
If you are tired from your walk, pop into The Percy French Hotel, again reasonable accommodation and great food and portions! Percy French Hotel is named after the famous Irish Poet Percy French.
If you like the outdoors, make sure you drive to Lough Key Park, there is so much to see and do. Take a picnic with you and take in the scenery. http://loughkey.ie/
You can walk and cycle, moor a boat there and there is an adventure playground.
If you are a fan of Moone Boy the comedy series starring Boyle’s own Chris O’Dowd you should visit Boyle.
Another place to visit is Carrick on Shannon, here you go on a boat or hire a boat on the River Shannon check out http://www.carrickonshannon.ie/carrick-on-shannon.
When are you going?
Thanks for helping out, wonderful info .