Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 2022 it had a population of 5,542. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Saint Crónán of Roscrea, parts of which remain preserved today. The town is in a civil parish of the same name.
Roscrea is a designated Irish Heritage Town due to the extent of important historical buildings that are preserved in the town. Amongst the most notable buildings of interest are the 13th century Roscrea Castle and Damer House on Castle Street. Within the town are the remains of the ancient Romanesque doorway and gable-end of St Cronan's church. The Round Tower and the 12th century High cross of the ancient monastery are also located nearby. Also of interest in the town are the remains of the 15th century Franciscan Friary and Monaincha and Sean Ross Abbeys. One of the most famous books produced by the monastery is the 8th-century Book of Dimma currently on display at Trinity College, Dublin.De Breffny, pg. 75.
Location and access Roscrea is in North Tipperary, bordering with County Offaly. It is located in Ireland's Mid-West Region, in a valley between Devil's Bit mountain to the south west and the Slieve Bloom Mountains to the north east. The town is from Limerick and from Dublin. It is at the crossroads of the R445 and N62 roads. The Slieve Bloom Mountains reach as far as Roscrea.
Historically, Roscrea was noted as being on one of the ancient highways of Ireland known as the (meaning 'parliament way') which stretched from Tara in the east to Limerick and the port of Tarbert. It is possible the route formed much of the old N7 road, now the R445 road, which originally passed through the town.
Transport Roscrea is well connected by bus routes. Bus Éireann route 12 links Dublin and Limerick with connections available hourly. A private bus contractor, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, provides extra bus services to Dublin and Limerick.
Local Link Tipperary operates bus service 854 between Roscrea railway station and Nenagh with intermediate stops in Shinrone, Cloughjordan, Moneygall and Toomevara. The service operates three times a day in each direction seven days a week.
Roscrea railway station is on the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line between Ballybrophy and Cloughjordan. At Ballybrophy it joins the main Cork-Dublin line. At one time there was a branch from Roscrea to nearby Birr in County Offaly. Roscrea railway station opened on 19 October 1857.
A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Iarnród Éireann was expected to seek permission from the National Transport Authority to close the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line. An enhanced timetable was operated between February 2012 and January 2013 before services were downgraded again.
Features from the town is a Cistercian monastery, Mount St. Joseph Abbey, and a boarding school for boys, Cistercian College.
Buildings of note The Round Tower in Church Street is a national monument in state ownership. In addition there are several other buildings and structures in Roscrea listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage including, Damer House, listed as being of special architectural, artistic, archaeological, historical and social interest. Roscrea railway station is listed as being of special architectural and social interest. The railway signal box is listed as being of special architectural interest. Former Quaker meetinghouse listed as being of architectural and social interest. The 19th Century Fancy Fountain now located in Rosemary Square is listed as being of artistic, social and technical interest.
History Early history and medieval period c. 550 – c. 1500
Roscrea has historically been an important trading town. The settlement grew around an ancient church or monastery, founded by St. Cronan in the late 6th century. The town is situated strategically in a gap in the hills on one of the great ancient roads of Ireland, the Slighe Dála. It became an important ecclesiastical centre evidenced by the beautiful west gable of a Romanesque church, a 12th-century sculptured High Cross, and a round tower also built during the 12th century. The round tower has a doorway from the ground and is the oldest surviving part of the ancient monastery. The usual conical cap is missing as the tower was shortened by around when it was used by snipers in the 1798 rebellion. The 8th century Book of Dimma, which belonged to Roscrea monastery, is preserved in Trinity College, Dublin. It contains a copy of the Gospels and a Missa Infirmorum, and is enclosed in a shrine of bronze with silver plates ornamented with Celtic interlacing.
In 1812, the Romanesque church was demolished with the exception of the west gable and its stones used for the erection of the current St. Cronan's parish church of the Church of Ireland at the same site. The church was designed by the Roscrea architect James Sheane and restored under the supervision of Sir Thomas Newenham Deane in 1879. Records show that John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement, preached in Roscrea on 26 June 1750.John Wesley. The Works of the Rev. John Wesley:in ten volumes. (1810) John Jones, London. Vol. 3, p. 53 Roscrea was one of the main settlements in the ancient and medieval Munster kingdom of Éile (commonly anglicised as Ely) and was briefly a diocesan see in the 12th century, before the superior power of the O'Briens ensured that the Roscrea was incorporated into the diocese of Killaloe.
John, King of England (reigned 1199–1216) is credited with having erected a castle at Roscrea in 1213, of which a circular tower and some sections of wall are still extant; such castles were built as part of a policy to consolidate the Norman conquest of the midlands. In 1209 King John's officials established twelve shires or counties in Leinster and Munster, one of which was Tipperary, covering areas of English settlement such as Roscrea. Within county Tipperary there were fourteen baronies; Roscrea was the chief town in the barony of Ikerrin; baronies became obsolete after the Local Government Act (1898), which set up county and borough/town councils. From the mid-14th century (particularly after the Black Death) and 15th century native Irish influence the areas outside of the English Pale revived, strengthened by the intermarrying of the Norman aristocracy with the native Irish aristocracy.
The building of a castle at Roscrea was the subject of dispute between the king's representatives and the bishops of Killaloe until 1280, as the castle was built on church land without the bishop's permission. Though the castle was built as a royal castle, it was often in the hands of the Butlers as they controlled the surrounding lands and was close to Nenagh, where the Butlers had one of their principal castles. The castle was rebuilt in stone between 1276 and 1281, probably as part of King Edward I's orders to secure safe storage and transport of mined silver from the Silvermines to the west of Nenagh. Large-scale mining of silver ceased at the Silvermines in the early 14th century following disputes with local people and as a result of Gaelic resurgence in the area. The later rectangular gate house, known as Ormonde Castle, was built by James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond sometime before 1450 and still stands today. There are also references to a gaol in Roscrea Castle during the period c. 1280–1315.
There is no surviving reference to the granting of a royal charter for the founding of Roscrea and it is likely that the town began to grow around the castle in the 13th century, adding to the existing ecclesiastical settlements. There are references to 'the burgesses of Roscrea', two mills and a town oven, which is accepted as proof that Roscrea was a medieval town.White, N.B., (ed.), The Red Book of Ormond (Dublin, 1932) p 151. In 1315, when Sir Edmund Butler was created 1st earl of Carrick (he later distinguished himself during the Bruce Invasion of Ireland), he was granted the castle and manors of Carrick and Roscrea, along with the attached lands. The castle remained in the Butler earl of Ormond's possession until it was sold by the 2nd duke of Ormond in 1703. The earls of Ormond had good relations with the local Éile (Ely) O'Carroll family, the ancient Gaelic lords of the area, and intermarried with them. The earls were largely absent from Ireland between c. 1464–1514, being engaged in the Wars of the Roses in England, and left the running of their lands to junior members of their extended family. Today the Catholic church of St. Cronin is built close to the site of a ruined Franciscan friary, which was founded by the O'Carrolls about 1477. Some portion of the walls of the old Friary has been retained in the modern church building.Manning, Conleth, Excavations at Roscrea Castle (Dublin, 2003) pp 1–17.
Early modern period to 19th century The expanding power of the O'Brien earls of Thomand from the West and the Fitzgerald earls of Kildare from the east caused a weakening of Butler authority and to Roscrea being controlled by the Gaelic lords of Éile, the O'Carroll's, for several decades. Despite attempts of the Butlers to re-conquer northern Tipperary in the 1530s a manuscript in the National Library, probably dating from the time of the Irish 'Reformation Parliament' of 1536–37 describes Roscrea as being then by 'Irishmen wasted, and not valuable'. The whole of northern and western Tipperary freed itself from Butler power after the death of the 9th earl of Ormond in 1546 and Roscrea remained virtually uninhabited for some years. The O'Carrolls fought wars with the Butlers in 1556–57, 1560–61 and 1564–66 but it was not until 'Black Tom' Butler, the 10th earl of Ormond, returned home from England that Roscrea was again under the control of the Butlers. During this time Roscrea lay on the northern edge of the County Palatinate of Tipperary (a territorial area administered from Kilkenny in which legal jurisdiction was held by Butler Earls of Ormond, rather than the King, but with royal permission). One of the benefits was that the Earl appointed the local judges and sheriffs to administer the law in Roscrea and gave the town some protection during this turbulent period. The plantations of King's County (now Offaly) and Queen's County (now Laois) from 1556 and the failure of the two Desmond Rebellions (1569–1573 and 1579–1583) saw the Gaelic lands to the north, west and south of Roscrea increasingly fall into New English hands.