Roscommon Tours

About Roscommon

County Roscommon is one of Ireland's quietest counties — a landscape of rolling pasture, bog, and lake where some of the island's most significant archaeological and heritage sites sit largely undisturbed by coach-tour traffic. Rathcroghan, near Tulsk village, was the ancient capital of the province of Connacht and is the oldest and largest unexcavated Royal Site in Europe. This complex of over 240 archaeological monuments spans 6,000 years of continuous settlement. Oweynagat — the "Gates of Hell" cave — is associated with the origins of Samhain and Halloween, and with the legendary Warrior Queen Medb and the Táin Bó Cúailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley). The Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Tulsk offers archaeologist-guided tours that bring the landscape's mythology and archaeology together. Strokestown Park House and the National Famine Museum occupy a Palladian mansion that was home to the Packenham Mahon family. Major Denis Mahon was the first landlord assassinated during the Great Famine, and the estate holds some of the most meticulous famine-era records in Ireland. The house is open daily 10:30–17:00, with guided tours at 12pm and 2pm. Walled gardens and woodland trails surround the property, and the National Famine Way — a 165-kilometre walking trail to Dublin — begins here. Boyle Abbey is a 12th-century Cistercian monastery founded in 1161 and consecrated in 1218, a daughter house of Mellifont Abbey with MacDermott patronage. Unusually for a Cistercian foundation, the abbey features carved corbels and capitals. A restored 16th/17th-century gatehouse contains an exhibition. The site is managed by the OPW and sits off the N4 Dublin–Sligo road — allow roughly one hour for a visit. Lough Key Forest Park, near Boyle, is the county's outdoor hub — trails, the Boda Borg challenge course, Zipit high-ropes, and boat trips to Castle Island. The park is open daily 10:00–18:00 with parking at €6. Roscommon Castle is a 13th-century Norman ruin in Roscommon town, and King House in Boyle is a Georgian mansion now operating as a cultural centre.