Strokestown Park House gives the fullest visit on this list: a guided walk through a Palladian house left much as the Mahon family had it, the National Famine Museum built around the 55,000 estate papers found sealed away in 1979, and six acres of Victorian walled garden. Allow about three hours. Most of what follows is shorter, and most of it sits in the northern half of the county.
Rathcroghan, reached through the village of Tulsk, was the capital of Connacht, and more than 240 monuments lie scattered over a few square miles of working farmland. Oweynagat, the Cave of the Cats, is the one people come for, a tight, pitch dark souterrain opening into a natural limestone fissure, and you get inside only on a guided tour from the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, April to October. North of Tulsk at Elphin, volunteers keep an 18th century thatched tower mill turning, its whole roof swung into the wind by a tailpole hitched to a cartwheel.
In the far north of the county, by Lough Allen, the Arigna Mining Experience runs 45 minute tours of Ireland’s last working coal mine with former miners doing the talking. Two quieter stops round things out: the Douglas Hyde Interpretative Centre at Frenchpark, open Saturdays in summer or by prebooked tour, and Roscommon County Museum, free and volunteer run, in the county town well south of everything else. All of it needs a car.
Ireland's National Famine Museum stands on the estate whose sealed archive of 55,000 papers made it possible, with a Palladian house tour and Victorian walled garden alongside.
A pitch dark souterrain in a field at Rathcroghan that folklore calls Ireland's gate to hell, seen only on a guided tour, April to October.
Former miners lead a 45 minute walk down the main tunnel of Ireland's last working coal mine, where seams ran as thin as 16 inches.
A fully restored 18th century thatched tower mill, its roof turned into the wind by a tailpole, with volunteer tours and an agricultural museum.
The oldest working windmill in Ireland, reopened in 1996, its sails still turning the millstones when the wind is up, with a small farm museum alongside.
8 of 9 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Strokestown, roscommon
When the Mahon family sold Strokestown Park in 1979, more than 55,000 estate papers turned up sealed away from the Famine years, and that archive is why the estate now holds Ireland's National Famine Museum. Alongside it are a guided tour of the time-capsule Palladian house and six acres of Victorian walled garden with a record-breaking herbaceous border. Give it about three hours.
Rathcroghan, roscommon
Oweynagat, the Cave of the Cats, is a tight, pitch-dark souterrain opening into a natural limestone fissure in a field near Tulsk, at the heart of the Rathcroghan royal complex. Folklore made it Ireland's 'Gate to Hell', the home of the war-goddess the Morrígan and a source of the chaos that gave rise to Samhain. You see inside only on a guided tour from the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, April to October – a genuinely muddy crawl, not for the claustrophobic.
Arigna, roscommon
Ireland's last working coal mine closed in 1990. You can now walk its main tunnel on a 45-minute tour led by former Arigna miners, who worked seams as thin as 16 inches on their backs. Above ground sit an exhibition, a renewable-energy space and a café looking out over Lough Allen.
Elphin, roscommon
Elphin Windmill is a rare thing in Ireland: a fully restored 18th-century thatched tower mill, its whole roof turned into the wind by a tailpole hitched to a cartwheel on a grooved track. Volunteers reopened it in 1996 and now run tours, an agricultural museum, and milling demonstrations when the wind cooperates.
Elphin, roscommon
Elphin Windmill, restored over three years by a local FÁS scheme and opened in 1996 by the actor Gabriel Byrne, is the oldest working windmill in Ireland. When the wind is up, its timber sails still turn the millstones inside. A small farm museum and a quiet Roscommon village sit alongside.
Rathcroghan, roscommon
Beneath a lone hawthorn near Tulsk lies Oweynagat, the Cave of the Cats – a narrow souterrain that opens onto a natural limestone chamber the Book of Leinster called Ireland's gate to hell. It's bound up with the warrior Nera, Queen Medb and the Morrígan, and reached only on a guided tour from the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre.
Tulsk, roscommon
Tulsk is the village at the edge of Rathcroghan – Cruachan Aí, the ancient capital of Connacht and seat of Queen Medb, spread across more than 240 monuments in a few square miles. The Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in the village is the way in, with guided walks out to the royal mounds and to Oweynagat, the cave folklore calls the gate to hell.
Frenchpark, roscommon
Roscommon, roscommon
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