Historic county of Ireland
Roscommon
Ros Comáin / County of Roscommon
Province: Connacht
Shannon east, lake country north, open Connacht plain through the middle.
Roscommon / Ros Comáin is an inland county of broad pasture, bog, rivers and lakes. The Shannon and its great waters form a powerful eastern edge, while northern Roscommon becomes increasingly broken by loughs and higher ground. Across much of the centre and south, the landscape opens into the wide plains characteristic of inland Connacht.
Roscommon town sits within this central country, while Boyle belongs to the more intricate lake landscape of the north. The county’s geography is quiet rather than dramatic, but strongly organised: Shannon waters to the east, northern lakes and uplands, and a broad agricultural interior between them.
- Connacht plains and old royal sites
- Named from Saint Coman's wood
- Formed from Central Connacht territories
- Area: 983 sq miles / 2,546 km²
- Population: 64,065
- County Top: Corrie Mountain 1,385ft / 422m
County geography
The Shannon edge
The Shannon provides Roscommon with one of Ireland’s strongest county margins. River, lake and floodplain repeatedly widen and narrow along the eastern side, producing a landscape quite unlike the open interior.
This water boundary also created important crossing points, linking Roscommon with the Midland counties beyond the river.
Northern lake country
Northern Roscommon is much less uniformly open than the central plain. Lough Key and neighbouring waters sit among woodland, hills and broken country around Boyle.
Further north and west the land rises towards the uplands adjoining Sligo and Leitrim, giving this part of Roscommon a markedly different scale and texture.
Plain, pasture and older Connacht
The central county belongs to the great pasture country of Connacht. Bog and wet ground interrupt broad agricultural landscapes, while historic sites such as Rathcroghan reveal a territorial story considerably older than the later county framework.
Those earlier kingdoms and lordships form the background to Roscommon, but they should not be treated as though their boundaries were simply identical to those of the county.
County questions
Questions about Roscommon
Is Roscommon in Connacht?
Yes. Roscommon is one of the five geographic counties of the province of Connacht.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County Roscommon
- Local name
- Ros Comáin
- Province
- Connacht
- Alternative name
- County of Roscommon
- Foundation
- c.1565
Roscommon, County Roscommon and Contae Ros Comáin are forms of the county name. The name derives from Ros Comáin, while the county itself took shape within the complex territorial geography of Connacht.