History
Roscommon comes from the Irish Ros meaning a wooded, gentle height and Comán, the name of the county's famous saint and the first bishop of the see. Rathcroghan was home to the Kings of Connacht and then to the High Kings of Ireland.
Tulsk is the nearest village to the mythological site of Rath Cruachán, home of Queen Medb (Méadhbh, Maeve). This was the starting point of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, an epic tale in Irish mythology. Rathcroghan has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2010, as part of the Royal Sites of Ireland group, with Tara.
County Roscommon as an administrative division has its origins in the medieval period. With the conquest and division of the Kingdom of Connacht, those districts in the east retained by King John as "The King's Cantreds" covered County Roscommon, and parts of East Galway. These districts were leased to the native kings of Connacht eventually became the county. In 1585 during the Tudor re-establishment of counties under "the Composition of Connaught", Roscommon was established with the South-west boundary now along the River Suck.
Dr Douglas Hyde, the first Irish president, was born in County Roscommon and the GAA park in County Roscommon is named Hyde Park in his honor. Strokestown Park House and Famine Museum is an award-winning museum for its portrayal of the great Irish Famine. John O'Donovan (1809-61), historian and scholar, visited County Roscommon in 1837. He was compiling information for the ordnance survey. Entering St. Peter's parish in Athlone in June, 1837, he wrote 'I have now entered upon a region totally different from longford, and am very much pleased with the intelligence of the people'. But he had major problems with place-names. He later wrote, 'I am sick to death's door of lochawns, and it pains me to the very soul to have to make these remarks, but what can I do when I cannot make the usual progress? Here I am stuck in the mud in the middle of Loughs, Turlaghs, Lahaghs and Curraghs, the names of many of which are only known to a few old men in their immediate neighbourhood and I cannot give many of them utterance from the manner in which they are spelled'.
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