Roscommon
Roscommon
Town is the capital of the county to which it gives its name.
Ros means a wooded area and Coman the name ot a famous Irish saint.
The County still retains its old world charm and where traditional Irish hospitality still exists. I
was surprised, as most visitors are, to find that many people still greet
you on the street even though you don't know them. I also have to
remind myself that a shop keeper who is chatting
to a customer, while a small queue forms, will spend an appropriate
time talking to you. In the hustle bustle of life, its still lovely
to realise, that someone wants to converse with you and not just offer a
sales pitch. In the early days of my arrival the cost of items were
rounded up in your favour, but unfortunately this habit seems to be vanishing.
Historically, Roscommon was the
foremost county, where foreigners settled after invading the country. In
the last few hundred years, it was the English who built their big houses, which are still a landscape today.
In very recent times I have noticed that the
English are coming back, in numbers! Whether, it is because
the Irish troubles seem to be heading towards a peaceful outcome, or whether
its because it is the "Celtic Tiger" economy which is turning Ireland into
one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and is therefore luring second generation Irish, from the united kingdom,
back to their motherland, I not sure.
