17 Feb Roscrea , County Tipperary
Roscrea sits on a low hillock between the Slieve Bloom Mountains to the North East and the Devils Bit to the South West. It is a charming place , with streets running down the hill slopes…..a real hidden gem for any tours of Ireland.
St Cronan’s Monastery with its round tower , and a shed built into the side of it and the top third removed by the British in 1798. Immediately opposite , virtually on the pavement , is the West gable of St Cronan’s Church , it’s yellow sandstone carved out in a twelfth-century Romanesque style reminiscent of Cormac’s Chapel in Cashel. The rest of the church was pulled down in the nineteenth century and the stone used as building material elsewhere.
The sturdy looking Gate Tower Castle dating from the thirteenth century and across the courtyard stands the imposing eighteenth century Damer House, a good example of pre-Palladian architecture.
So if you are on Ireland tours heading from Dublin to Limerick have a look !!