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STROKESTOWN |
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In the east of the county is STROKESTOWN , a gem of a planned town
whose reason for existence is Strokestown Park House, once the centre of
the second biggest estate in Roscommon after Rockingham. The enormously
wide main street - reputedly the result of an ambition on the part of an
early owner to have the widest street in Europe - ends abruptly in a
castellated wall with three Gothic arches, behind which lies Strokestown
Park House.
The St John's Heritage Centre (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9.30am-1pm & 2-3.30pm,
Sat & Sun 2-6pm; £2/¬2.54) is located in the elegant St John's church,
designed in 1819 in imitation of a medieval chapter house by the
fashionable English architect John Nash (who never visited Ireland).
There's material on the Ireland of the Heroes, with a focus on the
Rathcroghan monuments and also on the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge . A
genealogical service is available using records to trace Roscommon
families back to the seventeenth century.
Accommodation is thin on the ground in Strokestown. Try B&B at Martin's
(tel 078/33247; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), centrally located near the
heritage centre; Mrs Clyne's Lakeshore Lodge (tel 078/33966;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79), or Mrs Cox's Church View House (tel 078/33047;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79) both of which are two miles away in the townland of
Clooneen.
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