Roscrea
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.
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 High cross of the ancient monastery are 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.
The Society
The Roscrea Heritage Society promotes local heritage by organising events, researching history and acting as an advocate for the cultural, natural, intangible and digital heritage of Roscrea town and its wider area. The Society has a Facebook page for short snippets of news. This webpage will be continuously developed with projects, archival finds, heritage stories, photo's and more, so come back anytime for updates!
The current Society’s members are Pamela Aitken (Chair), Brian Redmond, Séamus Mullaney, Charles Lamb, Joe Stapleton, Caoimhe Flannery, Esther Griffin and Colin Williams. Dr. George Cunningham is honorary lifetime president.
In loving memory of Brí Greene.
The Society's History
The first volume of the journal ÉILE was published in a limited edition of 750 copies in 1982. The name ÉILE, referring to the ancient name for the territory of the south-west Midlands in which Roscrea lies, aimed to promote scholarly attention to the Midlands and raising awareness of particularly the manuscript-, stone- and metal heritage tradition in the region (1).
However, the journal was surely not the first initiative regarding Roscrea's heritage. Already in 1969, the Old Roscrea Society (hereafter ORS) was formed with the main purpose of saving Damer house: an eighteenth century mansion in the courtyard of the thirteenth century castle. Damer house was built by local merchant John Damer circa 1730 (2). It was used as army barracks from 1798. In 1922 the property came in ownership of the county council, after which it was used as a sanatorium and later a vocational school (3). In the late 1960s, the county council had plans to destroy Damer house (4). The ORS, organised by locals, together with the Georgian Society, was successful in fighting the council's decision and in 1975 works to restore Damer house commenced (5).
The magazine Roscrea People, a voluntary 'good news' paper, was launched in 1974 and in 1976 Roscrea and District was published: a guide to the local monuments and antiquities (6).
After a successful exhibition on 100 Years of Roscrea, held at the showroom of W.M. Maher & Son, a public meeting was held in April 1980 in the Pathe Hotel to discuss plans for a permanent exhibition centre. At this meeting, a committee was erected chaired by George Cunningham. Appointed secretaries were Coll Carmody and Theresa Redmond. Treasurers were Conty Cunningham and Ted Stapleton. Subscription secretaries included Lucia McCarthy, Kathleen Moloughney and Tom Lupton. Public relations was put in the hands of Frank Burke, Séamus Mullaney, Brian Redmond and Margaret A. Caverly. Finally, restoration work was supervised by Jackie McLoughlin, Henry Deane, John Scully and John Luption (7).
And so the Roscrea Heritage Society (hereafter RHS) was formed with three aims: to restore the Kitchen area of Damer house for local exhibitions, to restore and equip the derelict house Annexe as a Heritage centre and to form a trust to manage the entire Roscrea Castle complex. The RHS was successful in achieving its first two goals at an early stage: the Kitchen area as opened to the public in the summer of 1980 and the first exhibition on Sport in the Locality was held in November of the same year. In 1983, the Heritage Centre was opened (8). The third objective was achieved by incorporation of Roscrea Heritage Centre in 1988.
Roscrea is indebted to all the volunteers who stood at the beginning of the RHS and with their tireless efforts contributed to the preservation of Roscrea's monuments that we can still enjoy today.
(1) Cunningham (ed.), ÉILE, 1982: 4.
(2) https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22303058/damer-house-castle-street-townparks-roscrea-pr-roscrea-tipperary-north [accessed 15 August 2023].
(3) Manning (ed.), Excavations at Roscrea Castle, 2003: 7-8.
(4) Donovan, ‘Roscrea confronts ‘disgrace’ of Damer House’ in The Irish Times, 16 April 1998 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/roscrea-confronts-disgrace-of-damer-house-1.142461 [accessed 15 August 2023].
(5) Cunningham (ed.), ÉILE, 1984: 120. For an impression of the restoration works: https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/1122/922043-damer-house-gets-new-life/ [accessed 15 August 2023].
(6) Cunningham (ed.), ÉILE, 1984: 120.
(7) Cunningham (ed.), ÉILE, 1982: 83.
(8) Cunningham (ed.), ÉILE, 1984: 121.